Dragovištica

The Dragovištica or Dragovishtitsa (Serbian Cyrillic: Драговиштица; Bulgarian: Драговищица) is a river in southeastern Serbia and western Bulgaria, a 63 km-long right tributary to the River Struma. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 867 km². The river belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage and is not navigable.

Dragovištica/Dragovishtitsa (Драговищица)
Dragovishtitsa in Bulgaria
Location
Country	Bulgaria, Serbia
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Bosilegrad, Serbia, from the Božička reka and the Ljubatska reka
• elevation	787 m (2,582 ft)
Mouth
• location	Struma, north of Kyustendil, Bulgaria
• coordinates	42°21′57″N 22°43′09″E
• elevation	485 m (1,591 ft)
Length	63 km (39 mi)
Basin size	867 km2
Basin features
Progression	Struma→ Aegean Sea

Course

Serbia

The Dragovištica is formed by the confluence of the Božička reka (its longer headstream) and the Ljubatska reka at the small town of Bosilegrad in the southeastern part of Serbia, at an altitude of 787 m.

Božička reka

Božička River passing through Bosilegrad, Serbia

The Božička reka (Cyrillic: Божичка река) originates in the region of Krajište, between Lake Vlasina to the west and the Bulgarian border to the east, just a few kilometers from the source of another Serbian-Bulgarian river, the Jerma. However, while Jerma flows northward, the Mutnica (Cyrillic: Мутница), as the Božička reka is initially named, flows to the south, between the mountains of Vardenik (to the west) and Milevska planina (to the east). From the village of Božica on the river is known as the Božička reka ("river of Božica"). It receives the Lisina river from the right at the village of Donja Lisina and continues south to Bosilegrad, where it meets the Ljubatska reka. At Donja Lisina, the Božička reka is dammed, creating an artificial Lisina lake, used as an auxiliary reservoir for the Vrla hydro electrical power plants on the Vlasina River.

Ljubatska reka

The Ljubatska reka (Cyrillic: Љубатска река) also originates in the Krajište region, but from its southwestern side, from the Besna Kobila mountain near the village of Musut. The river flows through the northern slopes of the Dukat, next to the villages of Gornja Ljubata and Donja Ljubata, before it reaches Bosilegrad.

The river slowly turns southeast after Bosilegrad, now flowing between the northern slopes of the Milevska planina to the north and the Dukat mountain to the west. After it passes next to the villages of Rajčilovci, Radičevci and Resen, it receives from the right the Brankovačka reka precisely on the Serbian-Bulgarian border, and enters Bulgaria.

Bulgaria

Dragovishtitsa River between villages Dolno Uyno and Goranovtsi, Bulgaria

Immediately after the border and the village of Dolno Uyno, the Dragovishtitsa enters the Kyustendil depression, part of the Struma river valley. The river flows through the southern slopes of the Zemenska planina mountain and through the dual village of Dragovishtitsa (consisting of two villages, Perivol on the right bank and Yamborano on the left bank of the river). Soon after, the river empties into the Struma at an altitude of 485 m near the villages of Razhdavitsa and Shipochano north-northeast of the city of Kyustendil.

References

• Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6