Hebros

   River in Thrace (q.v.), also called the Marica (or Maritsa), which originates in the Rila Mountains south of Serdica (q.v.), draining much of the plain of Thrace before exiting into the Aegean Sea near Ainos (qq.v.). Two important cities are situated on the Hebros, namely, Philippopolis and Adrianople (qq.v.). The Ottoman victory at the battle of Marica (q.v.) in 1371 ended the Serbian principality of Serres (q.v.) and prepared the way for the conquest of Serbia by the Ottomans (qq.v.).