Nerodimka River

Infobox River | river_name = Nerodimka (Неродимка)


caption =
origin = Nerodimka mountain, Kosovo, Serbia
mouth = Lepenac, at Kačanik, Kosovo, Serbia
basin_countries = Serbia
length = 41 km
elevation =
discharge =
watershed = 229 km²

The Nerodimka (Serbian Cyrillic: Неродимка), is a river in the Nerodimlje region of Kosovo, Serbia, a 41 km-long left tributary to the Lepenac river. The Nerodimka is known for its (now non-existing) bifurcation.

The Nerodimka originated from two streams, one flowing from the Nerodimka, the other one from the Crnoljeva mountain. The river first flows to the north, between the two mountains, into the Nerodimlje, a region and medieval župa, a southern section of the Plain of Kosovo, where the villages of Jezerce, Gornje Nerodimlje and Donje Nerodimlje and the medieval ruins of the town of Petrč are located.

In XIV century, during the reign of king Milutin, a canal connecting the Sazlija pond and the river Nerodimka was dug, creating an artificial bifurcation, since the Nerodimka flows to the south into the Lepenac river and thus belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage basin, while the Sitnica (which is an outflow of the Sazlija) flows to the north, into the Ibar river and belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin. After World War II the canal was covered with earth again as it was previously mudded as a result of the lack of maintenance.

After the major settlement of southern Kosovo, the town of Uroševac, the Nerodimka turns south and flows next to the villages of Varoš Selo, Kamena Glava, Stari Kačanik, Stagovo and Runjevo, before it reaches the town of Kačanik and empties into the Lepenac river.

The Nerodimka belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage basin, drains an area of 229 km² itself, and it is not navigable.

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