The Krka river in Croatia

For this reason it is protected on most of its course by the National park of Krka.

For a French-speaking throat the word “Krka” decides “keurka”.

The course of the river is in Dalmatia power station in the county of Šibenik-Knin, connecting these two towns of Knin and Šibenik, city close which Krka is thrown in the Adriatic Sea.

The Krka river is bordered in the east by the Promina mountain and, beyond, by the solid mass of Mosor; the plate of Miljevci separates it from its affluent, the Čikola river. In the west it is the southern part of the solid mass of Velebit.

The course of the river is thus segmented by seven series of cascades or waterfalls, separated by lakes. Widest of the lakes is the Lake Visovac located between the two great series of cascades, those of Roški Slap and those of Skradinski Buk, most spectacular.

The higher and average courses are purely of fresh water, while the lower course, on 23.5 km, is brackish. The uneven total of the river is of 224 Mr. His annual flow average on the way with Skradinski buk is approximately 55 m³ /s, while daily flow varies from 5 to approximately 565 m³ /s according to the seasons. Its catchment area covers a surface from 2500 to 2 650 km².

Comparable with that of the Lakes Plitvice, the system of cascades with travertine of Krka is among most beautiful of the Croatian karst and makes of them one of the rivers more the enchanters of Croatia.

Travertine, or tufa, is a porous rock, of white color when it is pure, but drawing towards the gray, the yellowish one, the reddish one or chestnut, according to the impurities which it contains; it is characterized by small cavities (vacuoles) unequally distributed. This sedimentary rock is formed by calcium carbonate deposits which, precipitated out of running water, pile up on various natural supports (like river foam, the algae, etc). On a stopping or an obstacle, in consequence of turbulences and splashes, water rich in dissolved calcium bicarbonate, loses carbon dioxide and the bicarbonated molecules in water. Calcium the carbonate, nondissolved, precipitates towards the bottom in the form of microcrystals of the size of 10 microns. The precipitated microcrystals are encrusted in foam and the algae, thus forming new layers of travertine.

This travertine thus creates obstacles, thresholds, stoppings or geomorphological forms called “barbs”, “draperies” and other travertine shapes. Travertines of Skradinski Buk are approximately seven thousand years old; it is said that they are “alive travertines”, because the deposits continue to grow, with an annual growth of approximately 3 mm. Apart from the current course of the Krka river - in the field of the old course of the river - are travertines whose age can reach 125,000 years; they are called “travertine dead”.
Travertine is often present superficially in the river currents of the dinaric Alps but forms only seldom falls as impressive as those which one can find on the Krka river.

Krka emerges under a waterfall (Topoljski buk), high 22 m, of its affluent, the small Krčić river, long 10.5 km. In summer, when the Krčić river is dry, the source of Krka becomes visible. In Knin, Krka is reinforced by its affluent, Butišnica.

The falls of Bilušića Buk can be reached on the Right Bank (solid mass of Bukovac) via the road of Knin with Kistanje by taking the exit towards the village of Radučić and while continuing on the dirt track to the station of Radučić.

Water runs out in the lake by the cascade of Ćorića only during high waters, because water is redirected since the river through a tunnel to feed a hydroelectric factory.

One can reach the cascade on Right Bank by the road of Knin with Kistanje by taking the exit before Burnum on the road of Oklaj with Drniš. On the side left bank, one can join the cascade by the road of Drniš with Oklaj which is connected to the road of Knin with Kistanje. The road crosses the travertine barriers, and offers since the bridge of the unforgettable sights, upstream and downstream from the river, on the cascades and the Lake Ćorića.

The cascade consists of a series of travertine barriers a total height of 59.6 meters, the largest step being 32 meters top. The cascades are approximately 500 meters length, with a width of approximately 80 meters. This cascade is regarded by much as the most beautiful cascade of the Krka river.

As the cascade of Brljan, the cascade of Manojlovac is drained during the summer because of the redirection of water to feed the hydroelectric factory of Miljacka, located in the vicinity. In period of high waters, the falls fall into deep water with a deafening rumbling, surrounded by a veil rainbow.

The cascade is in a picturesque throat wedged between cliffs of almost 200 meters in height. It is the single waterfall where mills were never built, because of its inaccessibility.

Because of its primitive simplicity and its mystical inaccessibility, the inhabitants named it “the furnace bridge”.

The cascade is accessible from Right Bank by the road from Knin to Kistanje while turning on the road of Oklaj to Drniš then while turning in the direction of the hydroelectric factory of Miljačka to the first intersection.

On left bank of Krka, just after the cascade of Miljačka, is the hydroelectric factory of Miljačka, most important of the river. Its construction started in 1904 and, until 1910, it remained the hydroelectric factory most powerful of Europe.

The Čikola river, upstream of the lake, can be found dry for the periods of drought, but in the upper part of the lake is the source Torak, a powerful permanent source which feeds the lake under its surface.

The Lake Prokljan is also fed, in the west, by the Guduča river which is an important ornithological zone; the lake is connected to the sea by a narrow channel which constitutes the estuary of Krka and which emerges with the port of Šibenik.

This estuary is of an exceptional wealth because of the absence of pollution and its biological vitality: the estuary of Krka is rich in shells and shellfish, and fish of river and sea.