Crna (river)

Crna (Црна)
Crna River in western Macedonia
Basin
Main source	Zeleznec
River mouth	Vardar 41°33′18″N 21°58′49″E / 41.55500°N 21.98028°ECoordinates: 41°33′18″N 21°58′49″E / 41.55500°N 21.98028°E
Country	Republic of Macedonia
Physiognomy
Length	207 km

Rivers of Macedonia

The Crna (also Crna Reka, Macedonian:  Црна Река  or Reka Crna) is a river in the Republic of Macedonia, right tributary of the Vardar. It runs though much of the south and west of the country. Its source is in the mountains of western Macedonia, west of Kruševo. It flows through the village Sopotnica, and southwards through the plains east of Bitola. At Brod (Novaci Municipality) it turns northeast, and it flows into the Vardar between Rosoman and Gradsko.

Thus, the river makes a bend of almost 180 degrees east of Bitola. This bend was part of the Macedonian Front in World War I. It was known to the allied forces as the Cerna Bend or Cerna Loop, and two major battles were fought here : the Battle of the Cerna Bend (1916) and the Battle of the Cerna Bend (1917).

The name Crna means "Black river" in Macedonian, a translation of its earlier Thracian name, Erigon, meaning "black", akin to Greek érebos, "darkness"; Armenian erek, "evening"; Old Norse røkkr, "darkness"; Gothic riqis, "darkness"; Sanskrit rájas, "night"; Tocharian B orkamo, "dark".^[1]

References

1. Katičic', Radoslav. Ancient Languages of the Balkans. Paris: Mouton, 1976: 147