River
Maritsa
490 km from source to mouth · Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece.
Turkey, Bulgaria and GreeceFlows into Thracian Sea8th longest in Turkey
In numbers
Length
490km
Average flow
200m³/s
Basin
53,846km²
Drop
759m
from 759 m to 0 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
490 km of river and 46 stops on the way: 17 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmMaritsa Lakesat 759 m
- 9 kmDolna Banya4,990 people
- 38 kmBelovo4,155 people
- 39 kmYadenitsatributary
- 50 kmSeptemvri5,834 people
- 56 kmChepinska rivertributary
- 68 kmTopolnitsatributary
- 69 kmPazardzhik55,220 people
- 76 kmLuda Yanatributary
- 90 kmStamboliyski12,070 people
- 92 kmStara reka, Bulgariatributary
- 98 kmVachatributary
- 108 kmParvenetskatributary
- 110 kmIron Bridge in Plovdiv
- 111 kmGreen Bridge in Plovdiv
- 111 kmGerdzhika Bridge
- 112 kmPlovdiv333,994 people
- 112 kmPedestrian Bridge in Plovdiv
- 112 kmFairground Bridge
- 113 kmAdata Bridge, Plovdiv
- 117 kmPyasachniktributary
- 129 kmChepelare Rivertributary
- 130 kmStryamatributary
- 154 kmSrebra (Silver) Rivertributary
- 163 kmParvomay17,000 people
- 194 kmBanska Rivertributary
- 201 kmDimitrovgrad38,015 people
- 224 kmSimeonovgrad7,388 people
- 228 kmSazliykatributary
- 238 kmHarmanli18,931 people
- 262 kmLyubimets8,065 people
- 275 kmOld Bridge
- 275 kmSvilengrad16,959 people
- 308 kmArdatributary
- 313 kmMeriç Bridge
- 313 kmEdirne180,002 people
- 315 kmTundzhatributary
- 351 kmKaz Ova bridge
- 365 kmDidymóteicho8,336 people
- 366 kmErythropotamostributary
- 396 kmSouflí4,149 people
- 421 kmErgenetributary
- 433 kmİpsala8,060 people
- 471 kmNymfón1.2 km²
- 472 kmEnez4,119 people
- 473 kmSképi0.3 km²
- 473 kmDalyan Lake3.7 km²
- 490 kmThracian Seaat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in the Balkans
At the mouth it carries 200 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 12 seconds. It drops from 759 m to 0 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 53,846 km², about the size of HR. 3.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to February; lowest: from August to September. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (42% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- PlovdivLargest city on its banks · 333,994 people
- Plovdiv International Airport (PDV)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at PDV airport (Plovdiv)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Maritsa, month by month
Highest water: from December to February
Lowest water: from August to September. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 79 m³/s in the lowest month to 500 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Maritsa: the basin in numbers
52,512 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 3.4millionpeople live in the basin
- 65/km²people per km²
- 411maverage altitude of the basin
- 622mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 11.3°Caverage air temperature
- 8%protected areas
- 0.5%covered by lakes
- 3.6km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 23% Forest
- 35% Cropland
- 12% Pasture
- 2% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Maritsa: what you find on the way
- 44Weirs
- 2Waterfalls
- 6Boat ramps
- 1Ferry piers
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Maritsa in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3lakes on its wayLakeyas
19mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (3)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Nymfónkm 4601.2km²
- Sképikm 4620.3km²
- Dalyan Lakekm 4623.7km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (19)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Musala1.8 km away · prominence 2,473 m2,925m
- Malka Musala1.7 km away2,902m
- Irechek2.3 km away2,852m
- Mancho1.1 km away2,771m
- Ovcharets2.4 km away2,769m
- Deno3.6 km away2,790m
- Rilets12 km away2,713m
- Unnamed Peak2.5 km away2,792m
11 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (28)
Turkey290 km38 m³/sjoins at km 301ErgeneTurkey283 km64 m³/sjoins at km 412TundzhaTurkey283 km180 m³/sjoins at km 308Also: Vacha, Stryama, Topolnitsa, Chepelare River, Sazliyka, Erythropotamos, Banska River, Yadenitsa, Chepinska river, Luda Yana, Parvenetska, Pyasachnik, Srebra (Silver) River, Martinka, Omurovska Reka, Potoka, Stara reka, Bulgaria, Kalamitsa, Kayaliyka, Kriva Reka, Ochushnitsa, Chengenedere, Cherkezitsa, Brezovska reka
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q204347) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit