- Mesta River
Infobox River | river_name = Mesta (Места), Nestos (Νέστος)
caption =
origin = at coord|42|07|10|N|23|35|10|E|,Rila Mountains ,Bulgaria
mouth =Thermaic Gulf ,Aegean Sea , west ofThessaloniki
basin_countries =Bulgaria ,Greece
length = 230 km
elevation = 2,240 m
discharge = from 1,462 m³/s at the source of Cherna Mesta to 29,850 m³/s at Hadzhidimovo
watershed = 2767,1 km²The Mesta ( _bg. Места) or Nestos ( _el. Νέστος) is a river in
Bulgaria andGreece . It rises in theRila Mountains and flows into theAegean Sea near the island ofThasos . It plunges down towering canyons toward the Aegean Sea through mostly metamorphic formations. At the end, the main stream spreads over the coastal plain of Chrysoupolis and expands as a deltaic system with freshwater lakes and ponds forming the Nestos delta.The length of the river is 230 km, of which 126 km in Bulgaria and the rest in Greece. It forms some gorges in Rila andPirin .The Mesta's longest tributary is the
Dospat River . The banks of the river are covered mainly by deciduous trees that extend into halfway between Bulgaria and Greece where it forms the modern boundary ofGreek Macedonia andThrace , as well as the boundary between the Kavala and theXanthi prefectures. The river later forms a delta to the north where swamplands, wetlands and a lagoon once existed except in the east.Honour
Mesta Peak onLivingston Island in theSouth Shetland Islands ,Antarctica is named after Mesta River.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.