Zlatna Panega (river)

Geography

The river takes its source at an altitude of 188 m from Glava Panega, the second largest karst spring in Bulgaria with an average annual discharge of 2.5 m3/s or 2,500 L/s, situated in the southeastern part of the village of Zlatna Panega. It flows north through the Fore-Balkan, a mountainous and hilly chain straddling north of and in parallel with the Balkan Mountains. It forms a scenic gorge upstream of the town of Lukovit. The river turns northwest at the village of Radomirtsi and in a few kilometers flows into the Iskar at an altitude of 94 m some 850 km northwest of the outskirts of the town of Cherven Bryag.

Its drainage basin covers a territory of 350 km2 or 4% of the Iskar's total. Its basin encompasses the entire eastern areas of the Sofia Valley.

It has high water in May and low water in October–November, although the water flow is fairly constant throughout the year due to the karst water feed. The average annual discharge at the village of Petrevene is 4 m3/s.

Settlements and transportation

The Zlatna Panega flows in Lovech and Pleven Provinces. There are nine settlements along its course, two towns and five villages. Within the former province are located Zlatna Panega in Yablanitsa Municipality and Rumyantsevo, Petrevene and Lukovit (town) in Lukovit Municipality. In Pleven Province are Radomirtsi, Ruptsi and Cherven Bryag (town) in Cherven Bryag Municipality. It waters are utilized for small-scale hydropower generation, as well as for irrigation and industrial supply, including the Titan Zlatna Panega Cement Factory in the homonymous village.

Part of the river course near Lukovit is situated in the Iskar–Panega Geopark, created to foster local tourism and to preserve the geologic and geomorphologic features of the surrounding karst landscape, with several tourist tracks. There are over 700 caves in the region, including the renown Prohodna on the banks of the Iskar, a few kilometers west of the Zlatna Panega.

A 19.8 km stretch of the first class I-3 road Botevgrad–Pleven–Byala follows the river between its source and Radomirtsi. Through its whole length runs a section of railway line No. 22 Cherven Bryag–Zlatna Panega of the Bulgarian State Railways.

Gallery

File:Екопътека "Искър Панега" 04.jpg File:По река Златна панега.JPG File:Зелено спокойствие - река Златна панега.JPG File:Екопътека "Искър Панега" 05.jpg

Citations

References

• {{cite book | ref= | trans-title = Encyclopaedia Bulgaria. Volume II. G-Z
• {{cite book | ref= | trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria

References

1. {{harvnb. Encyclopaedia Bulgaria, Volume II. 1981
2. {{harvnb. Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria. 1980
3. "Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map".
4. {{harvnb. Encyclopaedia Bulgaria, Volume II. 1981
5. "Raising Environmental Public Awareness through Education for Sustainable Development and Volunteer Bio-monitoring of the Zlatna Panega – Adopt a River".
6. "Iskar–Panega Geopark".
7. "Eco Trip along Zlatna Panega River Valley".
8. "A Map of the Republican Road Network of Bulgaria".