Vardar

Etymology

The name Vardar for the river may have been derived from Thracian, although Dardanian, Paeonian, Ancient Macedonian, and Ancient Greek were also spoken in the lands drained by the river.

The modern Vardar is thought to derive from an earlier *Vardários, which may ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *(s)wordo-wori- "black water". The name Vardários (Βαρδάριος) was sometimes used by the Ancient Greeks in the 3rd century BC. The same name was widely used in the Byzantine era.

Vardar/Vardarios may be a translation of (or otherwise have a similar meaning as) Axios, which may be Thracian and may have meant "not-shining" from PIE *n.-sk(e)i (cf. Avestan axšaēna "dark-coloured"). The oldest known name of the river, Axios, is mentioned by Homer (Il. 21.141, Il. 2.849) as the home of the Paeonians allies of Troy. Pjetër Bogdani would use the form Asi, an earlier Albanian-language name for the river.

This same hypothetical Thracian Axio- meaning "dark, not-shining" is theorized to be found in the name of a city at the mouth of the Danube, called Axiopolis in Greek and Axíopa (perhaps again meaning just "dark water") in Thracian, which may later have been translated into Slavic as Cernavodă, also meaning "black water".

Geography

The river rises at Vrutok, a few kilometers southwest of Gostivar in North Macedonia. It passes through Gostivar, Skopje and into Veles, crosses the Greek border near Gevgelija, Polykastro and Axioupoli ("town on the Axiós"), before emptying into the Thermaic Gulf in Central Macedonia, west of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The river forms a large delta along with Loudias and Haliacmon at the Axios-Loudias-Aliakmonas National Park.

The Vardar basin comprises two-thirds of the territory of North Macedonia. The valley features fertile lands in the Polog region, around Gevgelija and in the Thessaloniki regional unit. The river is surrounded by mountains elsewhere. The superhighways Greek National Road 1 in Greece and M1 and E75 run within the valley along the river's entire length to near Skopje.

The river was very famous during the Ottoman Empire and remains so in modern-day Turkey as the inspiration for many folk songs, of which the most famous is Vardar Ovasi. It has also been depicted on the coat of arms of Skopje, which in turn is incorporated in the city's flag.

Project to construct the Danube-Vardar-Aegean Canal

Main article: Morava-Vardar Canal

A proposal to construct a canal connecting the Morava river valley with the Vardar, and hence linking the Danube to the Aegean Canal, has been a dream for a long time. Le Figaro published a project of Athens and Belgrade on 28.08.2017. The Greek-Serbian proposal made in Beijing is Pharaonic: 651 km. A project worth 17 billion.

Vardaris wind

The Vardaris or Vardarec is a powerful prevailing northerly ravine wind which blows across the river valley in Greece as well as in North Macedonia. At first it descends along the "canal" of the Vardar valley, usually as a breeze. When it encounters the high mountains that separate Greece from North Macedonia, it descends the other side, gathering a tremendous momentum and bringing cold conditions to the city of Thessaloniki and the Axios delta. Somewhat similar to the mistral wind of France, it occurs when atmospheric pressure over eastern Europe is higher than over the Aegean Sea, as is often the case in winter.

Gallery

File:Northwestern Macedonia.png|Map of the northwestern part of North Macedonia including the source of the Vardar File:Axios-Vardar river map.jpg|Axios/Vardar river map File:Veles Gorge Vardar Macedonia.jpg|Veles Gorge File:River Vardar (2).JPG|River Vardar near Gradsko File:River Vardar (1).JPG|River Vardar near Gradsko (2) File:Axios river.jpg|Vardar (Axios) river in Greece File:Надолжен профил на Вардар.jpg|Longitudinal hidrographic profile of the flow of river Vardar

References

References

1. "The rivers – Axios Delta National Park".
2. Orel, Vladimir. ''A Handbook of Germanic Etymology''. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 392.
3. Mallory, J. P. and D. Q. Adams. ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture''. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997: 147.
4. Mallory, J. P. and D. Q. Adams. ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture''. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997: 146.
5. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0073%3Aentry%3D%231109 Axios, Georg Autenrieth, ''A Homeric Dictionary'', at Perseus]
6. (17 December 2014). "Konferenca për Eposin e Kreshnikëve, Pjetër Bogdani dhe Dardania në gusht 2014 (rreth vendlindjes së arqipeshkvit Pjetër Bogdani)". Epoka e Re.
7. Katičic', Radoslav. ''Ancient Languages of the Balkans''. Paris: Mouton, 1976: 149.
8. "The creation of the Delta – Axios Delta National Park".
9. link. (2014-09-29 . – Retrieved on 13 May 2009.)
10. The Project to Construct the Danube-Aegean Canal(2013)[http://danube-cooperation.com/danubius/2013/09/26/project-construct-danube-morava-vardar-aegean-canal-abstract/]
11. The Greek-Serbian proposal made in Beijing[http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2017/08/28/20002-20170828ARTFIG00226-athenes-et-belgrade-sollicitent-pekin-pour-relier-le-danube-a-la-mer-egee.php]