The Struma or Strymónas (Bulgarian: Струма [ˈstrumɐ]; Greek: Στρυμόνας[striˈmonas];) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymṓn (Greek: Στρυμών [stryˈmɔːn]). Its drainage area is 17,330km2 (6,690sqmi), of which 8,670km2 (3,350sqmi) in Bulgaria, 6,295km2 (2,431sqmi) in Greece and the remaining 2,365km2 (913sqmi) in North Macedonia[1] and Serbia.[2] It takes its source from the Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria, runs first westward, then southward, forming a number of gorges, enters Greece near the village of Promachonas in eastern Macedonia. In Greece it is the main waterway feeding and exiting from Lake Kerkini, a significant centre for migratory wildfowl. Also in Greece, the river entirely flows in the Serres regional unit into the Strymonian Gulf in Aegean Sea, near Amphipolis. The river's length is 415 kilometres (258 miles) (of which 290 kilometres (180mi) in Bulgaria, making it the country's fifth-longest and one of the longest rivers that run solely in the interior of the Balkans.
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Struma (Струма), Strymónas (Στρυμόνας)
The course of the Struma in Bulgaria and Greece (marked in red)
2.1m3/s (74cuft/s) at Pernik; 76.2m3/s (2,690cuft/s) at Marino pole
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Parts of the river valley belong to a Bulgarian coal-producing area, more significant in the past than nowadays; the southern part of the Bulgarian section is an important wine region. The Greek portion is a valley which is dominant in agriculture, being Greece's fourth-biggest valley. The tributaries include the Konska River, the Dragovishtitsa, the Rilska River, the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa, the Sandanska Bistritsa, the Strumitsa, the Pirinska Bistritsa and the Angitis.
Etymology
The river's name comes from Thracian Strymón, derived from Proto-Indo-European*srew- 'stream',[3] akin to English stream, Old Irish sruaimm 'river', Polish strumień 'stream', Lithuanian straumuo 'fast stream', Bulgarian струя (struia) 'water flow', Greek ῥεῦμα (rheũma) 'stream', Albanian rrymë 'water flow', shi 'rain'.
The name Strymón was a hydronym in ancient Greek mythology, referring to a mythical Thracian king that was drowned in the river.[4] Strymón was also used as a personal name in various regions of Ancient Greece during the 3rd century BC.[5]
In 437 BC, the ancient Greek city of Amphipolis was founded near the river's entrance to the Aegean, at the site previously known as Ennea Hodoi ('Nine roads'). When Xerxes I of Persia crossed the river during his invasion in 480 BC he buried alive nine young boys and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the river god.[6] The forces of Alexander I of Macedon defeated the remnants of Xerxes' army near Ennea Hodoi in 479 BC. In 424 BC the Spartan general Brasidas after crossing the entire Greek peninsula sieged and conquered Amphipolis. According to the ancient sources, the river was navigable from its mouth up to the ancient (and today dried) Cercinitis lake, which also favored the navigation; and thus was formed in antiquity an important waterway that served the communication between the coasts of Strymonian Gulf and the Thracian hinterland and almost to the city of Serres.[7]
Dimitrios C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Eastern Macedonia during the Antiquity (= Makedonikí bibliothíki, 49). Society of Macedonian Studies, Thessaloniki 1976, p. 16 ff. ISBN960-7265-16-5 (in Greek; online textArchived 2017-04-24 at the Wayback Machine). Dimitrios C. Samsaris, A History of Serres (in the Ancient and Roman Times). Thessaloniki 1999, pp. 55–60 (in Greek; website of the municipality of SerresArchived 2018-06-24 at the Wayback Machine).
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