Ibar (river) - Lower Course

Lower Course

Flowing to the north, still following the western side of Kopaonik, the river reaches Raška, Brvenik, Bela Stena, Baljevac, Ušće, Bogutovac, Mataruška Banja, Žiča and Kraljevo, finally emptying into the Zapadna Morava.

Here, the river receives its major tributaries: the Raška, Studenica and Lopatnica, from the left, and the Jošanica.

In this section, the river has carved the 40 km (25 mi) long and 550 m (1,804 ft) deep Ibar gorge, which is the natural route for the major road in this part of Serbia, the Ibar highway, and it is famous for its pinched meanders and gigantic whirlpools. The whole area, 110 km (68 mi) long (meridionally stretched) and 15–20 km (9–12 mi) wide, is known as Ibarski kraj (Serbian: Ибарски крај), and is popularly divided into several colorfully named valleys:

• Dolina istorije (Serbian: Долина историје; Valley of history), comprising ruins of the medieval city of Maglič, monastery of Studenica, monastery of Žiča, monastery of Gradac, etc.;
• Dolina jorgovana (Serbian: Долина јоргована; Valley of the lilacs);
• Dolina banja (Serbian: Долина бања; Valley of the spas), with many spas and springs, such as Jošanička Banja, Mataruška Banja and Bogutovačka Banja).

The gorge is carved between the mountains of Golija, Čemerno and Troglav, from the east, and Kopaonik, Željin and Stolovi, from the west.

This is a continuation of Kopaonik's mining rich area, including deposits of iron ore (Kopaonik, Raška), nickel (Kopaonik), asbestos (Brvenik), magnesite (Bela Stena) and hard coal (Baljevac, Ušće and Jarando).

The Ibar gained notoriety as being the most polluted river in Serbia (together with its major tributary, the Sitnica), especially from frequent spills of extremely poisonous phenol, which causes constant problems for the population of Kraljevo, since the city uses the river's water for public waterworks.