Lepenac

The Lepenac (Lepenci ; ; Лепенац, Lepenac) is a river in southern Kosovo and northern North Macedonia, a long left tributary to the Vardar river. The Lepenac springs out on the Kodža Balkan mountain, east of the city of Prizren, Kosovo, at an altitude of . It flows eastward, into the župa of Sirinić, between the Žar mountain from the north and alongside the northern slopes of the Šar Mountains from the south. From the Šar Mountains it receives many small tributaries, most notably the Suva reka, as it passes next to the villages of Sevce and Jazhincë, the ski resort of Brezovica and a small town and regional center of Štrpce. The Lepenac continues between the Šar Mountains from the south and Nerodimka mountain from the north, next to the villages of Biti e Poshtëme, Gotovushë, Brod and Doganaj, where the river makes an elbow turn to the south entering the Kosovo field. For several kilometers the Lepenac flows parallel to the Nerodimka river, flows next to the villages of Kovaçefc and Bob, and receives its major tributary the Nerodimka from the left at the town of Kaçanik, at the beginning of the Kaçanik Gorge. The gorge, as the narrowest part of the Lepenac river valley, is located between the Sharr Mountains on the west and Skopska Crna Gora on the east and connects the Kosovo field and Skopje depressions. The gorge is long, carved in the limestone and slate terrain. Higher parts of the gorge are actually formed by the ancient outflow of the now extinct lake. The village of Pustenik and small town of Hani I Elezit are located in the gorge. After Hani i Elezit, the Lepenac becomes a border river between Kosovo and Macedonia, before it leaves the gorge after the village of Seçishtë and leaves Kosovo after the course of . For the remaining , the Lepenac flows through the low Skopje depression, part of the composite valley of the river Vardar. Immediately entering the Greater Skopje area, it receives several small streams from the left, from the Skopska Crna Gora mountain.