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Mura
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mura (German Mur) is a river in Central Europe, a tributary of the bigger Drava and subsequently the Danube.
The source of the river is in the Austrian national park Hohe Tauern. The source is 1,898 m above sea level. Its total length is 465 km, of which 295 km is in Austria, 98 km is in Slovenia and the rest constitutes the border between Hungary and Croatia. The biggest city on the river is Graz, Austria.
The river gives its name to the Slovenian region of Prekmurje ("Trans-Mura-land") and the Croatian region of Međimurje ("between-Mura-land"). In this area, one can still use cable ferry as transportation mean.
In the area of upper Međimurje, in the western part of the region, the Mura floods and change its course rather often, moving slowly toward the north on its left. Here, the biggest forest along the river, the Murščak, is located between Domašinec and Donji Hrašćan, (hrast is oak in the Croatian language).
Since the 4th century BC, there have been reports of floating mills powered by the streams of the river. The ancient technology was adopted later by arriving Slavs and then by Magyars. Several decades ago, in the 1920s and '30s, many of these mills were still operating along the river. At least one of the old mills -- Babičev mlin near Veržej, Slovenia -- continues to operate to this day.
The river ends near Legrad in the Koprivnica-Križevci county of Croatia, where it flows into the Drava river.
Mura is known to carry small quantities of gold, not enough to be suitable for exploitation today but was the focus of activity for many people since ancient times. Organized research and exploitation of gold and other local resources was encouraged for the first time in 1772.
