Sitnica

Sitnica Sitnicë Ситница
Location
Country	Kosovo
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Sazlija pond, north of Ferizaj, Kosovo[a]
• elevation	560 m (1,840 ft)
Mouth
• location	Ibar River, at Mitrovica, Kosovo
• coordinates	42°54′03″N 20°52′23″E / 42.9008°N 20.8730°E / 42.9008; 20.8730Coordinates: 42°54′03″N 20°52′23″E / 42.9008°N 20.8730°E / 42.9008; 20.8730
• elevation	499 m (1,637 ft)
Length	90 km (56 mi)[1]
Basin size	3,129 km2 (1,208 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	9.5 m3/s (340 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Ibar→ West Morava→ Great Morava→ Danube→ Black Sea

The Sitnica (Albanian: Sitnicë; Serbian Cyrillic: Ситница) is a 90 km-long (56 mi) river^[1] in Kosovo.^[a] It flows into the Ibër at Mitrovica, and it is the longest river that flows completely within Kosovo.

History[]

In the 14th century, during the reign of king Milutin, a canal connecting the Sazlija and the river Nerodime was dug, creating an artificial bifurcation, since the Nerodime flows to the south into the Lepenc river and thus belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage basin, while the Sitnica flows to the north, into the Ibër river and belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin. After World War II, the canal was covered with earth again.

The Sitnica was supposed to be the major part of the huge Ibër-Lepenac Hydrosystem, which was to regulate Ibër-Sitnica-Lepenc watercourse (including , irrigation and power production), but the projected plan never came true.

Course[]

The Sitnica originates from the pond, north of the town of Ferizaj, and it is initially called the Sazlija river itself.

The Sitnica flows generally to the north, as the main river in the Kosovo Field, on the western slopes of the mountain (from which it receives the right tributary of , south of Lipjan), next to the villages of Talinoc i Muhaxherëve, Babush i Muhaxherëve, Roboc (where it receives the tributary of from the left), Topliçan, Grackë, Hallaç i Vogël and the town of Lipjan. The river continues to the north between the villages Suhadoll, Skullan, Radevë and Batushë, as it enters the Kosovo coal basin (with the major mine, Dobërdol, right on the river), west of the state capital of Prishtina. This is an area where the Sitnica receives some of its most important tributaries: the highly polluted Graçanka and Prishtevka from the right, and the Drenica from the Drenica depression, from the left.

The river passes west of the Prishtina suburbs of Fushë-Kosovë and Obiliq and the village of , between the mountain of Çiçavicë on the west, and the northernmost slopes of the Kopaonik mountain, on the east. The Sitnica leaves the coal basin as the most polluted river in the area, especially notorious for its highly toxic phenol spills, which pollutes not only the Sitnica, but also the downstream Ibër and West Morava rivers.

The Sitnica continues to the northwest, next to the villages of , Mihaliq, Reka (where it receives its major tributary, the Llap, from the right, Malo Kosovo field), Pestovë (where it receives another right tributary, the ), the town of Vushtrri, Senjak, Kçiq i Madh and Kçiq i Vogël, emptying into the Ibër as its right tributary at Mitrovica, with an average discharge of 9,5 m³/s.

Because of the relatively small inclination in its 3,129 km² (1,208 sq mi) drainage basin (altitudes of 560 m (1,837 ft) on its outflow from the Sazlija and 499 m (1,637 ft) on its confluence into the Ibër), the Sitnica meanders a lot. Many meanders have been cut through and dried out, so a curiosity is the long, Nine-Arched Bridge bridge above the dry river bed, near Vushtrri.

Gallery[]

• 

  The Sitnica from the Nine-Arched Bridge in Vushtrri

• 

  The Sitnica in summer

• 

  The Sitnica in winter

• 

  The Sitnica by the Haxhi well near Pestovë

• 

  Marshes on the Sitnica

• 

  The Sitnica at Mitrovica

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sitnica.

References[]

• Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
• Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6