Guadalquivir
From Free net encyclopedia
The Guadalquivir is the third longest river in Spain (after the Tagus and Ebro). The name comes from the Arabic al-wādĩ al-kabir (الوادي الكبير), 'the big river'. The river was called Betis from Pre-Roman times to the al-andalus period.
It has a length of 657 kilometers and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers. It begins at Vélez-Blanco, Almería, passes through Córdoba and Seville and ends in the village of Bonanza, near the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda, flowing into the Gulf of Cadiz (Atlantic Ocean). The marshy lowlands at the river's end are known as "Las Marismas". It borders Doñana National Park reserve.
The Guadalquivir river is the only navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable up as far as Seville, but in Roman times it was navigable to Córdoba.
The capital of Tartessia sank in the mouth of the swampy Guadalquivir River (and now is famously thought to have been Atlantis), its sunken ruins show great fortifications and columns.
External links
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