With a length of 38 km, the Drina river flows through Azbukovica, a paradise for fishermen and rafting enthusiasts, this is the largest and almost certainly the most beautiful tributary of the Sava River. It is 346 km long in total, and it is formed by the confluence of the Piva and Tara rivers Šćepan polje in Montenegro at the foot of Durmitor, as it flows into the Sava, near Sremska Rača. In its upper course there are pronounced features of a mountain river, and in the lower course is a plain river. What is characteristic above all about this river is its famous meandering course, which is still recorded in folklore with the words: "to straighten the crooked Drina", and of course refers to to some useless or impossible job.
By the way, folk tradition emphasized another important feature of the Drina, its unreal green color. According to folklore, everything until the 15th century, because of the color of the water, the Drina was called "Zelenika" or "Zelenka", precisely because of this color, which is so intense, as if some dedicated painter constantly pours green tempera into it. In addition, in ancient times it was called Drinos.
Back in 1463, when the Turks were conquering Bosnia, led by Mehmed Fatih, a horse drowned while crossing the Drina. what the sultan said: "Bu su derin" which in translation means "This water is deep". And that's how the word "derin" became the name, they say Drina. There is also a belief that the name Drina originated from the proto-Serbian word "der", which means to tear, to tear. This word describes the great force of water, which has the power to tear rocks, mountains and soil in order to create its flow.
The history that can convey the importance of this river in the past years, even centuries, is that the Drina after after the death of the Roman emperor Theodosius in 395, it was the border between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, and along the Drina were During the First World War between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, major military operations were conducted in 1914 and 1915. Another point of interest is that the Drina River was used for transport during the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and in the period between the two world wars so-called wooden ships: "burinka" and "zvonikuše".
The mountain gorge, the Drina river, seen from numerous vantage points, looks like a thin, green line cut into the canyon massif because Drina river canyon, the third deepest canyon in the world.
Airy clear, green water, frightening in the canyons, tame in the valleys, attracts with the beauty of its shores and the wealth of the aquatic world.
Tourists often describe the Drina River as the Serbian sea, and they say they spend their vacation in different ways - from rafting to fishing.
The Drina is home to the highest quality species of bream, grayling, trout, catfish, carp, sablefish, barbel, chub... The Drina is the only a river in which there is an extremely rare species of young fish (Hucho hucho), which has not been studied by our people at all biologist (ichthyologist). Adult juveniles from the Drina enter the Trešnjica River and spawn there.
They say that whoever rested by the Drina and fell asleep to the sounds of water and nature always came back. Guests in the Ljubovija region can choose whether to relax in ethnic-style settlements, or enjoy apartments with with a swimming pool located right next to the river.
Ljubovija is the place where the Drina is the most beautiful? It is a question that will cause heated debate among her fans. One is the most they like where it is fast, strong and relentless - in mountainous areas, where it cuts canyons and passes through gorges, while others they prefer its tamer face, so they prefer the lower part in Ljubovija, where it turns into a plain river.