Bojana

Course

The river used to be longer, but due to a rise in the level of Lake Skadar, the uppermost part of the river is now under the lake's surface. The river initially flows east, but after only few kilometers reaches the city of Shkodër and turns to the south. On the southern outskirts of the city, the river receives its most important tributary, the Great Drin, the greater part of which became its tributary after changing course during a flood in 1858 and now brings more water (352 m³/s) than the Buna itself (320 m³/s). After flowing around the Peak of Tarabosh, it passes through the villages of Zues, Bërdicë, Darragjat, Oblikë, Obot, Shirq, Dajç and Goricë.

After 20 kilometres (12 mi) in Albania, it forms the border between Albania and Montenegro.

History

The river appears as the Fiume Boiana in a 1688 map of the region, published by Vincenzo Coronelli. At the time, the river did not have any tributaries feeding into it. The presence of the Drin river having its own mouth into the Adriatic Sea on the map suggests that the Drin did not join the Buna river until after 1688. Over time, the frequent changes in its course and water levels led to flooding of its banks and the surrounding plains. Such occurrences led to the slow decay of the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, located right on the bank of the Buna river.