Nestos (river)

The Mesta (Bulgarian Места), or the Nestos (Greek Νέστος) is a river in Bulgaria and northern Greece, and is one of the five major rivers in Greece and in Bulgaria. In Greece, it currently marks the border between the geographical region of Macedonia to the west and Thrace to the east.

The length of the Nestos is 230 to 243 km (depending on the length calculation), of which 104 to 130 km are in Greece and 113 to 126 km in Bulgaria. The Nestos rises in the mountain massif Rila in Bulgaria in the north and flows in the south into the Aegean Sea (more precisely into the Thracian Sea) in the form of a delta north of the island Thasos. It first flows in a north-south direction through the mountain ranges of the western Rhodopes and Falakro. In Bulgaria, the course of the Nestos forms valleys in the Rila and Pirin Mountains. The most important tributary is the Dospat.

There are many special ecosystems along the Nestos. The river delta of the Nestos is a hydrobiotope with alluvial deposits, freshwater lakes and lagoons. Especially because of its bird fauna with 300 bird species it is a protected area in the form of a national park, which also encloses the lakes Vistonida and Ismarida to the east. The delta extends in a west-east direction from Nea Karvali near Kavala to Avdira or Abdera, in a north-south direction from the height of the town of Chrysoupoli to the coast.

Also of importance is the riverine forest on the banks of the Nestos. By the middle of the 20th century, very large parts of the original area of these riverine forests had been destroyed, mainly by human impact. Only 4500 acres remain today on both sides of the Nestos and are protected.

In its Greek course, the Nestos is dammed to form the Thissavros reservoir (172 m high dam at 480 m above sea level) and three other reservoirs.

The river gives its name to Mesta Peak, a mountain on Livingston Island in Antarctica.

Film

• Andreas Schulze: Lagoons, Dunes, Primeval Forests: In the Greek Nestos Delta, ISBN 978-3-89763-799-3.