Slovene rivers - Sava

Rivers of Slovenia – Sava

River Sava

The Sava is Slovenia’s longest river. Its two headwaters, the Sava Dolinka and the Sava Bohinjka, join at Radovljica, after which the Sava flows across gravel and conglomerate deposits on the floor of the Ljubljana Basin. Three major left tributaries flow into it from the Karavanke and the Kamnik–Savinja Alps: the Tržiška Bistrica at Naklo, the Kokra at Kranj and the Kamniška Bistrica near Ljubljana. Two larger right tributaries are the Sora, which rises in the hills above Škofja Loka and joins the Sava at Medvode, and the Ljubljanica, which flows from the Ljubljansko Barje wetland and joins the Sava at Ljubljana. East of the capital, the river cuts deeply into the Posavje uplands, where it receives its two largest tributaries: the Savinja, which joins it at Zidani Most, and the Mirna, which joins it near Sevnica. From the narrow valley at Krško, the Sava flows out into the broad Krško Basin. At Brežice it is joined by the right tributary the Krka and at Obrežje by the left tributary the Sotla, before flowing on into Croatia.

Including the Sava Dolinka, the river’s length in Slovenia is 221 kilometres, with a further 727 kilometres beyond the country’s borders. It flows into the Danube at Belgrade, in Serbia. The Sava basin, which covers as much as 53% of Slovenia’s surface area, thus forms part of the Black Sea catchment.

The Sava Dolinka rises from a shallow lake known as Zelenci, whose vivid green colour gives it its name (zelen is the Slovene word for green). It is also home to several endangered plant and animal species. Zelenci and its surroundings have been protected as a nature reserve since 1992.

Drago Perko, Anton Melik Geographical Institute, ZRC SAZU