The Vardar or Axios (MacedonianВардар, GreekΑξιός = Aksiós (or Βαρδάρης), LatinAxius) is the longest river in the Republic of Macedonia and a major river of Greece. It is 388 kilometres long, and drains an area of around 25,000 km². The river begins at Vrutok, a few kilometers north of Gostivar in the Republic of Macedonia. It passes through Gostivar, Skopje and into Veles, crosses the Greek border near Gevgelija, Polykastro and Axioupoli ("town on the Axiós"), before flowing into the Aegean Sea in Central Macedonia west of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The Vardar basin includes two-thirds of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, which some have also called "Vardar Macedonia" after the river. The valley comprises fertile lands in the Kilkis and Thessaloniki prefectures and Gevgelija and other parts. The river is surrounded by mountains elsewhere. The superhighways Greece Interstate 1 in Greece and M1 and E75 run within the valley along the river's entire length to near Skopje. The river valley has given its name to the vardháris or vardarec, a northerly prevailing ravine wind which blows down the length of the valley to bring cold conditions to the Thessaloniki area of Greece. It occurs when atmospheric pressure over eastern Europe is higher than over the Aegean Sea, as is often the case in winter. It is somewhat similar to the mistral wind of France.
The most accepted theory on the origin of the name derives Bardários from the Thracian language, from PIE *(s)wordo-wori-, "black water" [1] (cf. Germanschwarz "black", Latinsuāsum "dirt", Ossetianxuaræn "color", Persiansioh "black", Old Irishsorb "stain, dirt" [2]). This can be considered a translation or similar meaning of Axios, itself Thracian for "not-shining" from PIE *n.-sk(e)i (cf. Avestan axšaēna "dark-colored")[3], and found in another name at the mouth of the Danube, Axíopa "dark water", renamed in Slavic Cernavoda "black water" [4]. The name Bardários (Βαρδάριος) was sometimes used by the Ancient Greeks in the 3rd Century BCE; the same name was widely used during Byzantine era.
References
^ Orel, Vladimir. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 392.
^ Mallory, J.P. and D.Q. Adams. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997: 147
