Spotlight on the Evros River

Among the rivers that have a magic name, the Evros or Hebrus River certainly is one of them.

For a start, it is the second longest river in Europe after the Danube. Its source is to be found in the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria where it is called Maritsa. I remember how the Maritsa River runs through Plovdiv, ancient Philippopolis but never realized that this is the same river as the Hebrus.

The Hebrus River has repeatedly made headlines because today it largely constitutes the border between Greece and Turkey, except at Edirne (Turkey) that sits on both river banks. Also in its lower course the river – named Maritsa – forms the border between Bulgaria and Greece.

[Picture from Wikipedia]

The total length of the combined rivers is 480 kilometers, of which 320 run through Bulgaria and 160 kilometers are shared between Greece and Turkey.

When the Thracians ruled over that part of Europe in the 7^th and 6^th century BC, they spoke of the Euros or Ebros River. Eventually the Romans changed the name into Hebros or Hebrus. In modern Greek it is still called Evros.