DIFFLUENCE OF THE NERODIMKA

This hydrological phenomenon (Bifurkacioni i lumit të Nerodimës, Bifurkacija Nerodimke) is unique in Europe. At the level of the Nika mill (16th century), the small river Nerodimka (29 km, Nerodimja or Nerodima in Albanian) separates into two arms. The main branch, the Nerodimka, makes a 2,000 km journey to the Black Sea (signposted "Deti i Zi"): it joins the Sitnica north of Ferizaj/Uroševac, which flows into the Ibar near Mitrovica, the Ibar then feeds the western Morava in Serbia and the Morava, a tributary of the Danube, which ends its course in the Black Sea in Romania. The secondary branch, the Stara Reka, runs for 300 km to the Aegean Sea (signposted "Deti Egje"): after 20 km, it joins the Lepenac at Kaçanik/Kačanik and the latter mixes with the Vardar at Skopje, which flows into the Aegean Sea in the Gulf of Thessaloniki in Greece. In Europe, the only other diffluence is in Germany, at Hövelhof: the Hase splits into two arms that end in the North Sea. The Nerodimka is thus the only European river to feed two different seas. Despite the favourable geological conditions, this is the result of human activity: the secondary branch was created during the reign of King Milutin in the 14th century. The site of the diffluence is well developed. But a restorer 2 km upstream diverted the Nerodimka to create the Ujëvara ("waterfall") water complex, so that the flow here has become ridiculous.