White Drin

The White Drin (Albanian: Drini i Bardhë, Serbian: Бели Дрим / Beli Drim), is a river in Kosovo and northern Albania, a ca. 140-kilometre (87 mi) long headstream of the Drin. The name of the river is believed to be of Illyrian origin and was known in Ancient Greek as Drilon and in Latin as Drinus and developed into modern Drin through Albanian sound changes. The Kosovo section of the White Drin flows entirely in the semi-karst part of Kosovo, in an arc-shaped 122-kilometre (76 mi)-long course. The river originates in the southern slopes of the Zhleb mountain, north of the town of Peja. The river springs near the Bukuroshja e Fjetur Cave. The cave is multi-levelled, not much explored and has a lake inside. The water from the spring was used by the Peja brewery. The stream is originally a sinking river which eventually springs out from the strong well and falls down as a 25-metre (82 ft)-high waterfall named the White Drin Waterfall near the village of Radac, 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Peja. In 1934, Russian émigré Dimitry Tyapkin projected and constructed a hydroelectric power plant next to the waterfalls which produced electricity for the town. The White Drin first flows to the east, next to the spa of Banja of Peja or Ilixhe, and the villages of Banje, Novosellë, Dubova, Ozdrim, Trubuhoc and Zllakuqan, where it receives the Istog river from the left and turns to the south.