The source of the Volga is an amazingly beautiful place, untouched by modern civilization. Here, time seems to have stood still, afraid to disturb and destroy the eternal atmosphere of grace that reigns around. The Volga originates near the village of Volgoverkhovye on the Valdai Upland in the Tver Region.
Where is the source of the Volga
You can get to the Volgoverkhovye from the city of Ostashkov, first along a rather broken road to the village of Svapusche (about 50 km), and from there along the dirt road, the condition of which is much better than that of the asphalt canvas. From Svapusche to the destination is 19 km. Buses do not go to Volgoverkhovye, so you can only get there by private car (geographical coordinates: 57°15`07`` N 32°28`24`` E).
The source of the Volga on the map:
From afar, the Volga River flows for a long time ...
The Volgoverkhovye village is located on a low hill, and under the hill the great Russian river Volga originates from a small swamp.
There are several springs in this swamp. One of them, the deepest, which immediately has a current, was identified as the source of the Volga in the middle of the 18th century. A chapel has now been built over this spring, to which wooden bridges lead. In the chapel itself there is a font where you can plunge directly into the source. The depth here is small: an adult is up to the shoulders.
In 1989, a memorial stone was erected in front of the bridges, which reads: “Traveler! Turn your eyes to the source of the Volga! The purity and grandeur of the Russian land is born here. Here are the origins of the soul of the people. Keep them. Take a look when you leave." This place is located at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level.
The Volga flows out of the swamp in a small stream, only about 50 cm wide and 25-30 cm deep. The water in the newly “born” river is brown due to the peat it contains, but clean and transparent. There is a bucket on the walkways, so if you wish, you can wash yourself with Volga water or fill it in bottles and take it with you.
At 300 meters from the source, a small bridge is thrown over the stream and there is a convenient descent to the stream, so that you can wet your feet in the Volga water. However, the water here is cold even in the heat, not higher than 15 °.
Holguin Monastery
Near the bridge, you can see the remains of a stone dam built by the Olgin convent at the beginning of the last century. The dam is now destroyed, and the monastery itself still exists in the Volgoverkhovye. In Soviet times, it was closed, but revived again in 1999.
All that has survived from the monastery to our time is the Transfiguration Cathedral and the wooden church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Services are held here regularly. We got just on a church holiday - the day of St. Olga. At that time, a religious procession was taking place around the monastery, at which there were quite a lot of people for such a wilderness: about 150 people.
Since the residential buildings of the monastery have not been preserved, the nuns live in the village, their houses are easily recognizable by the turrets on the roofs.
Church of St. Nicholas
For a small fee, you can climb the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral and look at the source of the Volga from a height (we did not get in, because the entrance was temporarily closed due to the holiday).
You can take a walk in the forest growing near the source of the Volga. There are a lot of paths leading in different directions. Many-voiced bird singing is heard around, butterflies and dragonflies fly.
There is a small market in the Volgoverkhovye, as in any tourist place, where they sell ordinary souvenirs, pies and honey. There is no cellular connection in these places, it appears only at the exit to the highway in Svapuscha. Here, despite the fact that quite a lot of tourists visit the source of the Volga, peace and quiet reign.
After 3 km from its source, the Volga crosses the dirt road along which we drove here. This is no longer a stream, but a small river with picturesque banks overgrown with forest.
The Volga River is the largest river in Europe, the most abundant in Russia. This is the longest river in the world that flows into the inland water body - the Caspian Sea.
The river basin occupies an area the size of half of Europe.
The Volga River (a brief description is given below) has more than one and a half hundred tributaries - this is one of the record figures on the planet. On average, it takes 37 days for water to pass from source to mouth, since the current speed is about 4 km per hour. The Volga is one of the few rivers that has its own holiday - in Russia, May 20 is considered to be Volga Day.
The Volga River: a brief description of the geographical location
The Volga flows through the territory of Russia, only a small branch of the Kigach goes east to the Atyrau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Volga River (a brief description for children will go below) begins in the Tver region near the village, which is called Volgoverkhovye.
Here, its source is a small stream, which after a few kilometers crosses the lakes - first Small, and then Big Verkhity, giving strength to the great river. About a third is washed by the waters of the Volga basin. The Volga and its tributaries flow through the territory of thirty administrative regions of Russia and one region of Kazakhstan.
The mouth of the river is located in and is the largest delta in Europe of the many branches that flow into the Caspian Sea.
Historical information
The Volga, as an important trade artery of Eurasia, has been known to mankind for a long time. Having a great length and favorable geographical position, it was especially popular with merchants. Back in the 5th century BC, Herodotus, the ancient Greek philosopher, mentioned it in his treatise on the campaign of King Darius against the Scythian tribes. He called the Volga Oar. In the ancient Arabic chronicles, she is listed as Itil.
By the 10th century AD, a well-known link connecting Scandinavia with the Arab countries had formed. Large trading centers were formed on the banks of the great river: Khazar Itil and Bulgar, Russian Murom, Novgorod, Suzdal. In the 16-18 centuries, such large cities as Saratov, Samara, Volgograd appeared on the map of the Volga region. Here, in the trans-Volga steppes, the rebellious Cossacks and peasants hid. Giving a brief description of the Volga, it should be noted that at all times it performed an important economic function - it connected ports within the country and was a highway for connecting different states. In the middle of the 20th century, after its formation, the political function of the river also increased - access to the Azov and Black Seas, therefore, to the World Ocean.
The nature of the Volga basin
The Volga River is rich in natural resources. A brief description of the main plant and animal species is given below. There are four types of plants in the water: algae, aquatic submerged, aquatic with floating leaves, amphibians. A wide variety of herbs (wormwood, sedge, mint, marshmallow, spurge) grows in coastal areas, as it is covered with extensive meadows. An abundance of blackberries and reeds. For hundreds of kilometers along the Volga there are forest belts with birches, ash trees, willows, and poplars. This is a brief description of the Volga River, its flora.
The fauna of the river is also diverse. About fifty species of fish live in the water, including sturgeon, beluga, stellate sturgeon. Coastal expanses are densely populated with birds and animals. Special nature in the Volga Delta, where the unique Astrakhan Nature Reserve is located. It is home to many insects, birds, mammals and a wide variety of plants. Some representatives of the fauna that exist in the reserve are listed in the Red Book: mute swan, pelican, white-tailed eagle, seal.
Large cities of the Volga region
The Volga region has an advantageous position both geographically and economically. Nearby are the developed regions of the Urals, Central Russia and Kazakhstan. It supplies settlements with water, energy, and the Volga River is the highway. A brief description of the most striking cities is given below. Many large and small cities are located on the banks of the Volga, with their own unique sights and amazing history. The largest are Kazan, Samara, Volgograd.
Kazan is a beautiful and ancient city included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Cities. From the side of the Kazanka River - the left tributary of the Volga - the complex of the Kazan Kremlin is visible: the Annunciation Cathedral of the 16th century, the Kul Sharif mosque, the leaning Syuyumbike tower. The Kremlin is the main attraction of the city.
Samara is also a city located at the meeting point of three rivers - Samara, Soka and Volga. The main attractions are the bell tower of the Iversky convent, the historical center of the city.
The Hero City of Volgograd is one of the most beautiful settlements in Russia. Of the many cultural and historical sights of the city, it is worth noting Mamaev Kurgan, located on the banks of the Volga, the Kazan Cathedral, the central Embankment.
On the banks of the Volga, there are also smaller original cities and towns with their own historical heritage and cultural monuments.
Despite the fact that there are many different beautiful rivers in Russia, nevertheless, the Volga is the most valuable for it, the population of the country calls it majestic, based on the fact that the Volga is the queen of all Russian rivers. Scientists geologists determine from deposits in the earth's crust that over the immeasurably long history of the Earth, significant areas of the present Volga region have more than once turned into the seabed. One of the seas slowly receded to the south about twenty million years ago, and then the Volga River flowed in its wake. The Volga did not begin in Valdai, but near the Ural Mountains. She, as it were, cut a corner, taking the direction from there to the Zhiguli, and then carried the waters much more east than now. Movements of the earth's crust, the formation of new heights and depressions, sharp fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea and other reasons forced the Volga River to change direction.
Origin of the river's name
From the facts of ancient history, it is known that a well-known Greek scientist at that time named Ptolemy in his Geography called the Volga River by the name "Ra". Not looking at the fact that he lived far from the Volga, on the coast of Africa, in the city of Alexandria, but rumors about this great river also reached there. It was in the 2nd century AD. Later, in the Middle Ages, the Volga was known as Itil.
According to one version, the Volga acquired its modern name according to the ancient Mari name of the Volgydo River, or, which in translation meant “bright”. According to another version, the name of the Volga comes from the Finno-Ugric word Volkea, meaning "light" or "white". There is also a version that the name Volga comes from the name Bulga, associated with the Volga Bulgarians living on its banks. But the Bulgarians themselves (the ancestors of modern Tatars) called the reuk "Itil", a word that means "river" (there is, however, another version that the meanings of the hydronyms Volga and Itil then did not coincide with modern ones), it is believed that the origin of the ethnonym "Volga "from the Proto-Slavic word meaning volgly - vologa - moisture, thus the possible meaning of the name of the Volga is like" water "or" moisture ", if I can put it, "big water" is also suitable, due to the huge size of the river. The presence of the rivers Vlga in the Czech Republic and Vilga in Poland speaks for the Slavic version of the origin of the name.
The source of the Volga
The source of the Volga is the key near the village of Volgoverkhovye in the Tver region. In the upper reaches, within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Small and Big Verkhity, then through a system of large lakes known as the Upper Volga lakes: Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, united in the Upper Volga reservoir.
Geographic location of the river
The Volga originates on the Valdai Upland (at an altitude of 229 m), flows into the Caspian Sea. The length of the Volga is 3530 kilometers. The mouth lies 28 m below sea level. The total fall is 256 m. The Volga is the world's largest river of internal flow, that is, it does not flow into the oceans. The source of the Volga is the key near the village of Volgoverkhovye in the Tver region. In the upper reaches, within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Small and Big Verkhity, then through a system of large lakes known as the Upper Volga lakes: Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, united in the so-called Upper Volga reservoir.
The river can be conditionally divided into three main parts, these are:
upper Volga, the largest tributaries of the upper Volga - Selizharovka, Darkness, Tvertsa, Mologa, Sheksna and Unzha. After the passage of the Volga through the system of Upper Volga lakes in 1843, a dam (Upper Volga Beyshlot) was built to regulate the flow of water and maintain navigable depths in low water. Between the cities of Tver and Rybinsk on the Volga, the Ivankovskoye reservoir (the so-called Moscow Sea) with a dam and a hydroelectric power station near the city of Dubna, the Uglich reservoir (hydroelectric power station near Uglich), and the Rybinsk reservoir (hydroelectric power station near Rybinsk) were created. In the region of Rybinsk - Yaroslavl and below Kostroma, the river flows in a narrow valley among high banks, crossing the Uglich-Danilov and Galich-Chukhloma uplands. Further, the Volga flows along the Unzha and Balakhna lowlands. Near Gorodets (above Nizhny Novgorod), the Volga, blocked by the dam of the Gorkovskaya hydroelectric power station, forms the Gorky reservoir.
The middle Volga, in the middle reaches, below the confluence of the Oka, the Volga becomes even more full-flowing. It flows along the northern edge of the Volga Upland. The right bank of the river is high, the left is low. Near Cheboksary, the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station was built, above the dam of which the Cheboksary reservoir is located. The largest tributaries of the Volga in its middle reaches are the Oka, Sura, Vetluga and Sviyaga.
The lower Volga, where in the lower reaches, after the confluence of the Kama, the Volga becomes a mighty river. It flows here along the Volga Upland. Near Tolyatti, above the Samarskaya Luka, which is formed by the Volga, skirting the Zhiguli mountains, the dam of the Zhiguli hydroelectric power station was built; above the dam extends the Kuibyshev reservoir. On the Volga, near the city of Balakovo, the dam of the Saratov hydroelectric power station was erected. The Lower Volga receives relatively small tributaries - Sok, Samara, Big Irgiz, Eruslan. At 21 km above Volgograd, the left branch - Akhtuba (length 537 km) - separates from the Volga, which flows parallel to the main channel. The vast space between the Volga and Akhtuba, crossed by numerous channels and old rivers, is called the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain; the width of floods within this floodplain reached 20-30 km before. On the Volga, between the beginning of the Akhtuba and Volgograd, the Volga hydroelectric power station was built; the Volgograd reservoir extends above the dam.
The Volga delta begins at the point of separation from its channel Akhtuba (near Volgograd) and is one of the largest in Russia. There are up to 500 branches, channels and small rivers in the delta. The main branches are Bakhtemir, Kamyzyak, Staraya Volga, Bolda, Buzan, Akhtuba (of which Bakhtemir is maintained in a navigable state, forming the Volga-Caspian Canal).
Territorial division of the river
Geographically, the Volga basin includes Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Vladimir, Kaluga, Orel, Ryazan, Vologda, Kirov, Penza, Tambov regions, Perm Territory, Udmurtia, Mari El, Mordovia, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia, Komi, Moscow, and some others.
The Volga is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Volga-Baltic waterway, the Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin systems; with the White Sea - through the Severodvinsk system and through the White Sea-Baltic Canal; with the Azov and Black Seas - through the Volga-Don Canal.
The main food of the Volga River is melted external waters. Rains, which fall mainly in summer, and groundwater, due to which the river lives in winter, play a lesser role in its nutrition. In accordance with this, in the annual level of the river, there are: high and prolonged spring floods, a fairly stable summer low water and a low winter low water. The duration of the flood is an average of 72 days. The maximum rise in water usually occurs in the first half of May, half a month after the spring ice drift. From the beginning of June to October - November, a summer low water is established. Thus, most of the navigation period, when the Volga River is ice-free (on average 200 days), coincides with the period of low low water levels (2 - 3 m).
History of the Volga River
It is believed that the first mention of the Volga is found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (V century BC). In the story about the campaign of the Persian king Darius against the Scythians, Herodotus reports that Darius, pursuing the Scythians across the Tanais (Don) River, stopped at the Oar River. They try to identify the Oar River with the Volga, although Herodotus also reported that the Oar flows into the Meotida (Sea of Azov). Sometimes they also see the Volga in another river, about which in the 1st century. BC e. said Diodorus Siculus.
At first, the Scythians lived in very small numbers near the Araks River and were despised for their infamy. But even in ancient times, under the control of one warlike and distinguished by strategic abilities of the king, they acquired a country in the mountains to the Caucasus, and in the lowlands along the coast of the Ocean and Meotian Lake - and other areas up to the Tanais River.
In the written ancient Roman sources of the 2nd-4th centuries, the Volga is geographically identified as the river Ra - generous, in the Arabic sources of the 9th century it is called Atelya - the river of rivers, the great river. In the earliest ancient Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, it is said: “From that Volokovsky forest, the Volga will flow to the east and flow ... into the Khvalisskoye Sea.” Volokovsky forest - the old name of the Valdai Upland. The Caspian Sea was called Khvalisskiy.
The geographical position of the Volga and its major tributaries determined already by the 8th century its importance as a trade route between East and West. It was along the Volga route that the flow of Arab silver poured into the Scandinavian countries. Fabrics, metals were exported from the Arab Caliphate, slaves, furs, wax, and honey were exported from the Slavic lands. In the 9th-10th centuries, such centers as the Khazar Itil at the mouth, the Bulgar Bulgar on the Middle Volga, the Russian Rostov, Suzdal, and Murom in the Upper Volga region played a significant role in trade. Since the 11th century, trade has been weakening, and in the 13th century, the Mongol-Tatar invasion disrupted economic ties, except for the upper Volga basin, where Novgorod, Tver and the cities of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus played an active role. Since the 15th century, the importance of the trade route has been restored, and the role of such centers as Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Astrakhan has been growing. The conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates by Ivan the Terrible in the middle of the 16th century led to the unification of the entire Volga river system in the hands of Russia, which contributed to the flourishing of the Volga trade in the 17th century. There are new large cities - Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn; Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and Nizhny Novgorod play an important role. Large caravans of ships (up to 500) go along the Volga. In the 18th century, the main trade routes moved to the West, and the economic development of the lower Volga was hampered by sparse settlement and nomad raids. The Volga basin in the 17th-18th centuries was the main area of action for the rebellious peasants and Cossacks during the peasant wars led by S.T. Razin and E.I. Pugachev.
In the 19th century, there was a significant development of the Volga trade route after the connection of the Mariinsky river system of the Volga and Neva basins (1808); a large river fleet appeared (in 1820 - the first steamboat), a huge army of barge haulers (up to 300 thousand people) worked on the Volga. Major shipments of grain, salt, fish, and later oil and cotton are carried out.
The development of the Civil War of 1917-22 in Russia is largely connected with the establishment in 1918 in a number of cities of the Volga region of the power of the Constituent Assembly Committee. The restoration of Bolshevik control over the Volga is considered an important turning point in the Civil War, as control over the Volga provided access to grain resources and Baku oil. An important role in the Civil War was played by the defense of Tsaritsyn, in which I. V. Stalin played an active role, which was the reason for renaming Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad.
During the years of socialist construction, in connection with the industrialization of the whole country, the importance of the Volga route increased. Since the end of the 30s of the XX century, the Volga has also been used as a source of hydropower. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, the largest Battle of Stalingrad took place on the Volga, which preserved the name of the Volga in the history of the Liberated Territory. In the post-war period, the economic role of the Volga increased significantly, especially after the creation of a number of large reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations.
The natural world of the Volga
Large forest areas are located in the upper Volga basin, large areas in the Middle and partly in the Lower Volga region are occupied by grain and industrial crops. Developed melon growing and horticulture. There are rich deposits of oil and gas in the Volga-Ural region. Near Solikamsk there are large deposits of potash salts. In the Lower Volga region (Lake Baskunchak, Elton) - table salt.
In terms of fish diversity, the Volga is one of the richest rivers. There are 76 different fish species and 47 subspecies of fish in the Volga river basin. Fish enter the Volga from the Caspian Sea: lamprey, beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, thorn, whitefish, anadromous Volga or common herring; from semi-anadromous: carp, bream, pike perch, roach, etc. Fish constantly live in the Volga: sterlet, carp, bream, pike perch, ide, pike, burbot, catfish, perch, ruff, asp. Beluga is the most legendary fish of the Caspian basin. Its age reaches 100 years, and its mass is 1.5 tons. At the beginning of the century, beluga whales weighing over a ton lived in the Volga, the weight of caviar in females was up to 15% of the total body weight. Red fish - the glory of the Astrakhan region. Five species of sturgeon live here - Russian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga, spike and sterlet. The first four species are anadromous, while the sterlet is a freshwater fish. Farms also breed a hybrid of beluga and sterlet - bester. Herring-like fish are represented by the Caspian shad, common sprat and black-backed and Volga herring.
Of the salmon-like fish, the whitefish is found, the only representative of the pike-like fish is the pike. Carp fish of the lower reaches of the Volga include bream, carp, roach, rudd, golden and silver carp, asp, silver bream, gudgeon, grass carp, white and motley silver carp.
Perch fish in the Volga are represented by river perch, ruff, as well as pike perch and bersh. In stagnant shallow freshwater reservoirs of the lower reaches of the Volga, the only representative of the stickleback order, the southern stickleback, is found everywhere.
The influence of the Volga in creativity
In the figurative perception of the essence of the Russian people, the Volga plays an exceptional and central role, it is the root and core of the entire Russian people, a figurative ideal. She is always animated, human qualities are attributed to her, and the ideal Russian person must correspond to the image of this river. In literature and art, the Volga is not found too often, but truly cult works are associated with its image. In the culture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the most “popular” representatives of culture are associated with the Volga: N.A. Nekrasov, Maxim Gorky, F. I. Chaliapin. Soviet art made full use of the image of the Volga created by the democratic art of pre-revolutionary Russia. The Volga is identified with the Motherland, it is a symbol of freedom, spaciousness, breadth and greatness of the spirit of Soviet people. The film "Volga-Volga" and the song "The Volga Flows" performed by Lyudmila Zykina played a central role in the construction of this image.
Volga Delta
The Volga Delta is the place where the first biosphere reserve in Russia was created in 1919. Five years ago, another federal state nature reserve appeared in the Astrakhan region - Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky. We understand that nature reserves constantly have many problems, the solution of which cannot be postponed, therefore, financing of their activities is largely the responsibility of the regional budget. Astrakhan residents are proud that Maly Zhemchuzhny Island received the status of a federal natural monument last year. This is one of the most valuable natural reserves of the Northern Caspian. In addition, 800 thousand hectares of the delta have the status of a wetland of international importance. There are four state natural reserves of regional significance in our region.
The Volga Delta is recognized as the most ecologically safe delta in Europe. Our task, despite the fact that the territory for economic use is highly valued here, is to expand the boundaries of nature reserves. Now, for example, the idea of creating so-called biospheric polygons in the region is being worked out. We are among the first in Russia to do this. 300,000 hectares of the Northern Caspian and the Volga delta are to be reserved for them. In these spaces, mostly water, modern methods of economic activity will be tested, which will not damage the unique environment. We are for the openness of environmental information and always promptly respond to any signals about an emergency and problems.
The largest river valley in Europe, the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain and the delta of the Volga River, as well as the desert surrounding them, have always attracted the attention of botanists. The first studies mainly concerned the species composition of the flora. At different times, the region was visited by: P. S. Pallas, K. K. Klaus, E. A. Eversmann, I. K. Pachosky, A. Ya Gordyagin, and many other prominent travelers and botanists. In the late 1920s, more attention began to be paid to floodplain habitats. To one of the first researchers of the vegetation cover of the Lower Volga valley, S. I. Korzhinsky (in 1888), the floristic composition of its meadows and marshes initially seemed rather monotonous, but subsequently these ideas began to change. Mr. Ramensky (in 1931) noted a change in the composition of the herbaceous communities of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain and delta as one moved downstream the river.
Story
Until the 30s. In the twentieth century, the Volga was practically used only as a transport route and a fishing basin. The main organic shortcomings of the Volga trade route for many centuries were the lack of water connections with the World Ocean and the gradation of the depths. The first shortcoming was once tried to be overcome by the organization of portages. But only very small ships could be dragged across the watersheds. Peter I organized work to connect the Volga with the Don and the Baltic Sea. However, due to the lack of equipment that corresponded to the scale of the work, the efforts expended to connect the Volga with the Don were not crowned with success. The fate of the work on the Upper Volga was different. In 1703, they began and in 1709 completed the construction of the Vyshnevolotsk system. Through the rivers Tvertsa, Tsna, Meta, Volkhov, Lake Ladoga and Niva, goods transported along the Volga got access to the Baltic Sea. The limited capacity of this water system made it necessary to look for other ways of developing water links between the Volga basin and the Baltic.
In 1810, the Mariinsky water system came into operation, connecting the Volga with the Baltic through the rivers Sheksna, Vyterga, Lake Onega, the river. Svir, Lake Ladoga and Neva, and in 1811 - the Tikhvin water system, which did the same through the rivers Mologa, Chagodoma, Syas and the Ladoga Canal.
In 1828, the construction of the Württemberg (North-Dvinsk) system was completed, connecting the Volga basin through the Sheken River, Toporninsky Canal, Siverskoye and Kubenskoye Lakes with the river. Sukhona, Northern Dvina and the White Sea. In the first half of the XIX century. work began to actively develop and to overcome another major drawback of the Volga transport route - the gradation of depths.
Along with shipping, fishing has been of great importance in the Volga basin since ancient times. The Volga has always been abundant in non-water, semi-anadromous and anadromous fish. Sharp fluctuations in catches in the Volga basin were also noted in those times when the impact of human economic activity was practically insignificant. Mills were built on small tributaries of the Volga even in pre-Petrine times. During the time of Peter I, the energy of water began to be used for metallurgical plants created in the Urals.
At the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century. it became clear that the exceptionally favorable position of the Volga in the very center of the European part of Russia, the richest land, water and mineral resources, the vast fish wealth of the Volga basin, the availability of qualified workers in the industrial regions - Moscow, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ural - cannot be used in fully without developing a proper energy base.
Through the mountains to the sea with a light backpack. Route 30 passes through the famous Fisht - this is one of the most grandiose and significant natural monuments in Russia, the highest mountains closest to Moscow. Tourists travel lightly through all the landscape and climatic zones of the country from the foothills to the subtropics, spending the night in shelters.
Trekking in Crimea - 22 route
From Bakhchisarai to Yalta - there is no such density of tourist facilities as in the Bakhchisarai region anywhere in the world! Mountains and the sea, rare landscapes and cave cities, lakes and waterfalls, secrets of nature and mysteries of history, discoveries and the spirit of adventure are waiting for you... Mountain tourism here is not difficult at all, but any trail surprises.
Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom are waiting for you! And at the end of the route, the gentle waves of the Black Sea.
In Europe, the Volga is the largest river, but in Russia it is only in fifth place in terms of size. In the Tver region, there is a village Volgoverkhovye. Near it stands a chapel - this is the place where the Volga River originates.
Even before our era, the Egyptians, Greeks and Slavs who lived at that time called it Ra, the incarnation of the sun god, and those places where it flows, the sacred country of Iriy (Paradise).
In the Middle Ages, since the place where the Volga River originates is located in Russia, it received a Russian name, which means "wetland" or "flowing stream". But the Turks who lived downstream gave it the name "Itil", that is, "endless", "river of rivers".
In total, it overcomes the path of 3530 km. And if the beginning of the Volga River is a tiny swampy stream, and the first bridge across it is only 3 meters long, then after 10 km it flows into Lake Sterzh, once the first of the Upper Volga lakes, which have now turned into one reservoir. Having passed the chain of former lakes, the river becomes full-flowing and flows to Tver in its original course. A little lower, another reservoir begins, it is often called However, before it represents several man-made lakes, and only on the Caspian lowland does the Volga acquire its natural channel 500 km long. And before flowing into the Caspian Sea, it forms many branches that make up a vast delta (about 19,000 sq. Km).
Today, the Volga is distinguished by its majestic, measured flow, in other places it is even difficult to notice. Although earlier, when there were no dams and reservoirs on it, its temper was steeper, with rifts. The memory of this remained only in the names of coastal cities and towns and in old legends. But in the lower reaches and in places of reservoirs, it can be dangerous, in contrast to the places where it originates.
The Volga River has more than two hundred tributaries, which themselves are full-flowing and large rivers. For example, the Kama tributary is the largest, it is even fuller and longer in length than its "mother". And in total, the Volga basin has more than 150 thousand more or less large rivers (which have a length of over 10 km)
If you believe the guidebooks, then along the Volga you can get to almost any corner of the world. And being near the chapel, where the Volga River originates, you can’t say this at all.
With absolute accuracy, we can only say that it is realistic to go on a cruise from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg or Astrakhan. The capital can be reached through the Moscow Canal. You will get to the Azov and Black Seas with the help of A Volga-Baltic route will take you to while the White Sea-Baltic and North Dvina routes will take you to
In addition to the fact that you can cruise along the river, the Volga is a source of large fish resources. About 70 species of fish live there, most of which are commercial. This is herring, and stellate sturgeon, and vobla, and sterlet with sturgeon, and bream with pike. It is not for nothing that fishermen from all over our vast country, and from abroad, aspire to go there.
And if you decide to go on a trip, then start from the places where the Volga River originates, where it is still just a small stream, which after a few hundred kilometers becomes the great Russian river, striking in its beauty and majesty.
The Great Volga has been sung about in poetry and songs more than once, depicted on the canvases of great painters and has been a source of inspiration for composers.
This full-flowing river is the national symbol of Russia, the largest water artery in Europe and one of the largest rivers on our planet.
Almost everyone knows that the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, but few people know where the source of this powerful stream is located, which begins with a thin stream and ends with a huge delta of 500 branches, small rivers and channels.
The land where the Volga is born
The source of the Volga is located in the Ostashkovsky district of the Tver region. The most beautiful Russian river originates from the key at the southwestern outskirts of the small village of Volgoverkhovye, towering at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level.
In this place there is a small swamp with several springs, one of which is considered to be the source. A wooden chapel on stilts has been erected around the key, which can be reached via a narrow 3-meter bridge.
Attention!
In the center of the building there is a window in the floor, from where visitors are allowed to draw clean water.
Being at the source, you can easily step over from one bank to another, because at its narrowest point, at a depth of about 30 cm, the stream is only 50 cm wide.
In a dry summer, the spring often dries up, which, however, does not in the least prevent the Volga from peacefully carrying its waters along the high banks of the Valdai and Central Russian Uplands towards the Urals, absorbing over 200 tributaries on its 3,500-kilometer path to the Caspian Sea.
The thing is that its nutrition occurs mainly due to the melting of snow in the spring, as well as due to groundwater and rainwater flowing into the river throughout the year.
Near the source of the Volga, the Okovetsky spring beats out of the ground, to whose banks numerous tourists come to swim in the healing water.
An ecological trail with a length of about 1 km begins here, walking along which you can admire the local nature and listen to facts about nearby attractions.
Since 2002, the Volga Museum has been operating in the administrative building at the entrance to the village of Volgoverkhovye, where visitors are invited to get acquainted with the history of navigation on the river, view paintings depicting the source and learn a lot of interesting things about the Volga in folklore, literature and art.
The path of the Volga from the source
Approximately 300 meters from the source are the remains of the first Volga dam, built at the beginning of the 20th century from stone along with the construction of the Olgin convent.
Initially, on the site of the current temple, there was the Volgoverhovsky Monastery, founded in 1649 by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but in 1727 it burned down, and in 1912 a new building in honor of Grand Duchess Olga grew up on its ruins.
Every year on May 29, at the source of the Volga, the consecration of river water is held as a tribute to the memory of the beginning of the construction of the monastery.
Around the stream near the village of Volgoverkhovye stretch the lands of the regional reserve "Source of the Volga River", which includes dense forests with an area of more than 4 thousand hectares. This picturesque territory received its status back in 1972, but today it is one of the natural monuments and has an important recreational value.
The main goal of the reserve is the protection and rational use of the spring, as well as the protection of the entire upper reaches of the Volga up to its confluence with Lake Sterzh.
After the first 3 km of the way from the source, the Volga flows into the flowing lake Small Verkhity, after that it enters Lake Bolshiye Verkhity, and only then - after 8 km - it flows into Lake Sterzh, which belongs to the Upper Volga reservoir system. According to the local population, in clear weather, you can see how the Volga waters pass through the reservoir in a mighty stream, not mixing with the waters of Sterzh.
Almost immediately behind the lake is the first operating dam, the Upper Volga Beishlot, which regulates the flow in the upper reaches of the river. Only in its lower reaches, after the confluence of the Kama, does the Volga become a truly mighty river, and in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain it spills over a distance of about 20–30 km.
Source: http://www.mnogo-otvetov.ru/nauka/gde-naxoditsya-istok-reki-volgi/
Where to find the mouth and source of the Volga River ...? its width, length ... and tributaries .. and all the most important.
Geographical location: mainland Eurasia, western part.
The length of the Volga is 3530 km (before the construction of reservoirs 3690 km). The area of the basin is 1360 thousand km#178;.
The Volga starts on the Valdai Upland (at an altitude of 229 m), flows into the Caspian Sea.
The direction of the current is from north to south, more precisely southeast.
The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand watercourses (rivers, streams and temporary watercourses) with a total length of 574 thousand km.
The Volga receives about 200 tributaries, the main of which are: Kama and Oka, as well as smaller rivers: Tvertsa, Medveditsa, Mologa, Sheksna, Kostroma, Unzha, Kerzhenets, Sura, Vetluga, Sviyaga, Kama.
The Volga basin occupies about 1/3 of the European territory of Russia and extends from the Valdai and Central Russian Uplands in the west to the Urals in the east.
It is customary to divide the Volga into 3 parts: the upper Volga from the source to the mouth of the Oka, the middle Volga from the confluence of the Oka to the mouth of the Kama, and the lower Volga from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth.
The source of the Volga is the key near the village of Volgogverkhovye in the Tver region.
The Volga becomes more full-flowing in the direction from source to mouth, along the course.
In the lower reaches, after the confluence of the Kama, the Volga becomes a mighty river.
The Volga delta begins at the point of separation from the Akhtuba channel (near Volgograd) and is one of the largest in Russia.
The mouth of the Volga River lies 28 m below sea level.
The Volga River flows between - 50 and -60 parallels of northern latitude, and covers the space between 30 and 50 meridians of eastern longitude.
Including: The Upper Volga flows mainly between the 30th and 40th meridians of east longitude. The Middle and Lower Volga - mainly between 40th and 50th meridians of east longitude.
In the Samara region, the river even crosses the 50th meridian.
Where the Volga flows: The Volga River originates on one of the most elevated points of the Valdai Plateau (Tver Region), flowing from an insignificant spring, called the Jordan by the locals, lying in the middle of swampy lakes, near the village of Volgoverkhovye, at an altitude of 750 feet above sea level, at 5715 north latitude and 210 east longitude. Curving from west to east through the entire central lowland of European Russia, almost up to the foothills of the Urals, the Volga near Kazan turns sharply, almost at a right angle, to the south, and then, slowly lowering and heading straight towards the great Ponto-Caspian lowland, near Samara breaks through a chain of hills, forming the famous Samara bow, and at Tsaritsyn it comes very close to the Don, making up a portage with it, at which it turns to the southeast and maintains this last direction to Astrakhan and the Caspian Sea, where it flows into many branches, ending near the island of Biryuchya Spit. The direction of the Volga from west to east, and then a sharp turn to the south, to the Caspian Sea, are directly dependent on the orography of the area through which it flows.
The method of feeding the Volga: basically, the Volga is fed by groundwater, to a lesser extent, precipitation affects the water level.
Inhabitants of the Volga: lamprey, beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, thorn, white salmon, Volga and ordinary herring, carp, bream, pike perch, catfish, bersh, asp, sabrefish, sterlet, carp, bream, pike perch, ide, pike, burbot, catfish, perch, dace, ruff, chub, blue bream, roach, white-eye, silver bream, podust, asp, bleak, grayling.
Freezing of the Volga: the Volga freezes around the end of October, the beginning of November, and opens in late April, mid-March. Thus, the period of navigation along the Volga is approximately 190,220 days a year.
http://www.domotvetov.ru/science/a/43893_123.html
http://geography.kz/volga/
There is a chapel at the source. The total fall is 256 m. The Volga is the world's largest river of internal flow, that is, it does not flow into the oceans.
At the mouth of the Volga, it breaks into hundreds of branches, which, before flowing into the Caspian, diverge like a fan and form a vast delta with an area of 19 thousand square meters. km.
The Caspian Sea is an inland body of water, or a giant lake. The mirror of its waters is located 28 m below the level of the World Ocean.
The Volga River Delta is the largest river delta in Europe and perhaps the richest fish region in the Volga basin.
It starts above Astrakhan at the place where the Buzan River separates from the main channel of the Volga and has up to 510 branches, channels and small rivers.
The Volga is a river in the European part of Russia and one of the largest rivers on Earth and the largest in Europe. Length 3530 km (before the construction of reservoirs 3690 km). The area of the basin is 1360 thousand km#178;.
There are four millionaire cities on the Volga (from source to mouth): Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Volgograd.
Source: http://100smet.ru/i-14424/
Great Russian river Volga
287 km: the Puksha river flows into the Volga, 293 km - the Pavlovka and Vyrezhka rivers. 835 - 839 km: on the right bank is the city of Chkalovsk. 350 km from the source: the city of Rzhev, mainly on the left bank. In the region of Kozmodemyansk, the Volga turns to the southeast.
1260 - 1264 km: The Volga again falls into the territory of the Mari Republic, here on the left bank is the city of Volzhsk. 1634 km: the village of Klimovka is located on the right bank.
1165 km: on the right bank is Zavrazhnoye, in the area where the Volga turns east.
Attention!
The Volga is the central water artery of the country and flows through its European part through the East European (Russian) plain.
In connection with these features, three periods are distinguished in the annual level of the river: a long and high spring flood, a stable summer low water and a low winter low water.
It is at this time, when the river is free of ice, that navigation is possible. The Volga is one of the most important waterways in Russia.
The Lower Volga keeps its way in the steppe and semi-desert zones. The bottom of the Volga in different places can be sandy or silty, silty-sandy areas are often found.
The appearance of reservoirs on the river led to a change in the thermal regime of the Volga. So, on the upper dams, the period of ice captivity increased, and on the lower dams, it decreased.
The Volga floodplain is complex and uneven. In the thickets along the banks of the Volga, you can see a wild boar, seals have survived on the seashore, and saigas on the steppe plains. One of the largest migratory bird corridors in the world runs through the Volga delta.
Different Volga: Upper, Middle and Lower
Commercial fishing of many species is widely developed. Since ancient times, the Volga River has been considered one of the best places for fishing.
Since the 1930s, the Volga has been used as a source of hydropower.
Nowadays, about 45% of industrial and about 50% of agricultural production of the Russian Federation is concentrated in the river basin.
Volga in the Russian economy
Environmentalists are sounding the alarm: the waters of the Volga are seriously polluted.
Monitoring data confirm that the quality of water in the Volga and its tributaries and reservoirs does not meet the Russian quality standard in a number of ways.
I have a tradition - every year to swim in the Volga, although I do not live on the banks of this river. I have already been to Volgograd, Astrakhan, Samara, Saratov, next in line is a trip to Kazan.
Near Kazan, the Volga turns sharply, almost at a right angle, to the south, and then, slowly lowering and heading straight towards the Caspian lowland, near Samara, it breaks through a chain of uplands. Landslides near the city of Saratov formed islands near the upland coast, which, although slowly, but constantly, threw the water of the Volga towards the meadow coast.
The largest number of tributaries flows into the Volga from the north and from the south, from its source to Kazan.
As for the tributaries, the right ones, flowing in from the south and west, are opened earlier, and the left ones are northern, later than the Volga itself at the mouths of these tributaries.
Tourism and fishing on the Volga
The slope of the Volga is 0.07%. The average current speed is low - from 2 to 6 km / h.
The Volga originates in the Valdai Upland, its source is located near the village of Volgo-Verkhovye (Ostashkovsky district of the Tver region).
The Volga flows through the European part of the Russian Federation, its basin extends from the Valdai and Central Russian uplands in the west to the Urals in the east.
The economic role of the river in the life of the country
The length of the Volga in the Tver region is 685 km, and the basin area is 59,600 km². The maximum water flow in spring is 1,000 m³/sec at Yeltsov and 4,060 m³/sec at Staritsa.
On the territory of the Tver region, about 150 tributaries flow into the Volga. The source of the Volga is near the village of Volgoverkhovye, Ostashkovsky District.
Within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Verkhit, Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, which entered the Upper Volga reservoir.
Origin of the river's name
From Zubtsovo to Tver, the Volga flows among low, flat plains.
Below Dubna (166 km from Moscow), the Volga again turns to the northeast, and then flows in this direction in the Tver and Yaroslavl regions.
309 - 312 km: Uglich, on the right bank of the steep radiated Volga. 315 km: the Korozhechna river flows into it. In the Yaroslavl region, the Kotorosl River flows into the Volga.
In the area from Rybinsk to Kostroma, the Volga flows in a narrow valley among high banks, crossing the Uglich-Danilov and Galich-Chukhloma uplands, and then the Unzhenskaya and Balakhna lowlands.
On the territory of the region, the Volga flows along the Kostroma lowland.
585 km: a new artificially created mouth of the Kostroma River (354 km), in the lower reaches of which the Kostroma reservoir was created in 1955-1956.
This is the largest tributary of the Volga in the region. 597 - 603 km: Kostroma is located on both banks of the Volga, here the Volga changes its direction and turns to the southeast.
706 - 711 km: Kineshma, on the right bank of the Volga. On the opposite bank is the young city of Zavolzhsk, which until 1954 was the left-bank part of the Kineshma.
755 km: the Elnat River flows into the Volga, at the mouth of which there is a backwater, where the cargo fleet is settled and repaired. From the river Elnat begins the lake part of the Gorky reservoir.
From the mouth of the Nemnda, the Volga enters the Unzha lowland.
641 - 642 km: the village of Krasnoe-on-Volga, on the left bank. At this point, the Volga changes its direction to the southeast.
In the middle part of the Volga, ice drift is always longer than in the upper and lower parts. 1069 km: right tributary - the river Sura (length 864 km).
At its mouth and on the right bank of the Volga is the village of Vasilsursk. 770 km: the left tributary of the Volga - the river Nemnda.
Source: http://korawnskiy.ru/velikaya-russkaya-reka-volga/
Volga river brief information
The Volga is one of the largest rivers in Europe. The Volga River is connected to the White Sea through the White Sea-Baltic Canal and through the Severodvinsk system. RA - this is how the Greek scientist Ptolemy called the Volga River in his Geography.
Rav - both names of Iranian origin). Alternative versions deduce the name of the river from the Baltic-Finnish ones (Fin. valkea "white", cf. Vologda; vyrus.
Valgõ) and Volga-Finnish (other Mari.
Attention!
It is believed that the first mention of the Volga is found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), in a story about the campaign of the Persian king Darius I against the Scythians.
At first they lived in very small numbers near the Araks River and were despised for their infamy. Based on this information, they are trying to identify the Araks Diodora with the Volga.
The river system of the Volga basin includes 151,000 drains with a total length of 574,000 km. The Volga receives about 200 tributaries.
After the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, some sources consider the Zhigulevskaya HPP above Samara to be the boundary between the middle and lower Volga. The spring flood of the Middle Volga accounts for 60-70% of the annual runoff, and in the summer-autumn period, a small amount of precipitation leads to the shallowing of the Volga.
The first serious scientific observations of these rivers began in 1875. The Lower Volga even today serves as a natural continuation of the Kama, and not the Volga valley.
From a scientific point of view, according to most hydrological signs, the Kama is the main river, and the Volga is its tributary.
In the culture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the most “popular” representatives of culture are associated with the Volga: Nikolai Nekrasov, Maxim Gorky, Fedor Chaliapin.
Historical facts about the Volga River
The Volga is identified with the Motherland, it is a symbol of freedom, space, breadth and greatness of the spirit of the Soviet people. The film "Volga-Volga" and the song "The Volga River Flows" performed by Lyudmila Zykina played a central role in building this image.
In the upper reaches, the Volga River flows from the northwest to the southeast, further from the city of Kazan, the direction of the river changes to the south. Near Volgograd, the riverbed turns to the southwest.
The Volga River begins on the Valdai Hills from a spring in the village of Volgoverkhovye, Ostashkovsky District, Tver Region. The Volga is also the world's largest river flowing into an inland water body. Settlements.
The Volga River is the central water artery of Russia.
Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a major port on the left bank of the Volga River. It is the largest scientific, educational, economically developed, cultural and sports center in Russia. Samara is a city located in the middle Volga region of Russia.
The origin of the name of the Volga river
It is located on the western bank of the Volga River in the lower reaches. Together with the cities of Volzhsky and Krasnoslobodsk located on the eastern coast, it is part of the Volgograd agglomeration. There are 1450 marinas and ports on the river. There are more left tributaries and they are more abundant than the right ones.
Due to the very large length of the river, the composition of soils in the Volga basin is very diverse. The average depth is 9 m, the depth in summer and winter low water is about 3 m. The river is fed by a little rain (10%), a little more ground (30%) and mostly snow (60% of annual flow) water.
A low water level is observed in summer and in winter low water. The Volga freezes in the upper and middle parts of the course at the end of November; in the lower part - in early December. Ichthyofauna.
According to its diversity of fish, the Volga is considered one of the richest rivers in Russia. Grayling is found in the upper reaches of the Volga.
And the largest fish of the Volga River is the beluga, its length can reach 4 meters.
Hundreds and thousands of organizations have their own interests in the Volga region. Some of them are river pollutants. The Volga accounts for more than a third of the country's total wastewater discharge.
These substances enter the water of the river with waste from industry, agricultural and domestic wastewater. Use, tourism and recreation. The Volga River is used by people for a wide variety of purposes.
First of all, it is of great economic importance as a transport highway.
It is true that the average depth of the Kama in the Smylovka area is 25-35 meters, and the depth of the Volga at the same distance from the confluence with the Kama is 3-6 meters.
Kama is much more full-flowing, and at any time of the year its drainage does not decrease. The Volga owes its name to the Russian word for moisture.
From a historical point of view, the Volga River was first mentioned in the 5th century BC in the writings of Herodotus.
Prior to the creation of reservoirs, the Volga carried about 25 million tons of sediment and 40-50 million tons of dissolved minerals to the mouth during the year.
The Volga is mainly fed by snow (60% of annual runoff), ground (30%) and rain (10%) waters.
The Volga is a river flowing in the European part of Russia on the territory of 11 regions and 4 republics.
Source: http://labudnu.ru/reka-volga-kratkaya-informaciya/
Volga
Volga Map
Rivers of the Caspian Basin
Volga river
Volga one of the greatest rivers not only in Russia, but in the whole world. In ancient times it was called Ra, and in the Middle Ages Itil. The length is 3530 km, the basin area is 1.3 million km2.
It originates on one of the most elevated points of the Valdai Plateau, flowing from an insignificant spring lying in the middle of swampy lakes.
Then the winding valley of the river runs from west to east through the entire central lowland of European Russia, almost up to the foothills of the Urals.
Near Kazan, the Volga turns sharply, almost at a right angle, to the south, and then, slowly lowering and heading straight towards the Caspian lowland, near Samara, it breaks through a chain of uplands.
The direction from west to east, and then a sharp turn to the south, to the Caspian Sea, are directly dependent on the orography of the area through which it flows. The eastern slope of the Valdai Plateau, meeting with the western slope of the Urals, forms the bed of the Volga.
Volga river
By turning near Kazan, the Volga is divided into two almost equal parts, the first of which has a predominant direction from west to east, the second - from north to south.
But, in addition to the sharp turns indicated above, the Volga makes many other more or less significant turns and bends on its way. Because of this, the direct (shortest) distance from the source of the mouth is approximately 1500 km.
At the same time, individual parts of the Volga retain an almost straight direction: the length from the source to the sharp turn near Kazan is about 1,700 km. In general, the degree of tortuosity of the Volga, with the exception of its upper reaches, is very insignificant.
In length, the Volga, yielding to some rivers of Asia, Africa and America, significantly exceeds all European rivers: it is almost a thousand kilometers longer than the Danube, three and a half times longer than the Rhine.
In the part of the Volga below Kazan, there are many places where the right elevated bank cannot be washed away, since the main channel of the river flows near the left bank, at a very considerable distance from the right.
As for the Volga, we can only say that where it flows along the right bank, this bank is really washed away and that cities built on a steep bank are more or less subject to collapse.
Landslides near the city of Saratov formed islands near the upland coast, which, although slowly, but constantly, threw the water of the Volga towards the meadow coast.
Since the left, mostly low-lying bank, is flooded for a considerable extent in width during spring waters, in order to avoid floods, almost all the Volga cities were built on the high right bank.
In total, the Volga has about 300 tributaries. The largest number of tributaries flows into the Volga from the north and from the south, from its source to Kazan.
From the east, the rather large Kama River flows into the Volga, about 85 kilometers below Kazan, and the part of the Volga from the mouth of the Kama to Astrakhan is almost devoid of tributaries.
Of all the tributaries of the Volga, the Kama is also of paramount importance, bringing the Volga closer to the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean near the Northern Dvina and Pechora, and with the Siberian rivers - on the watershed of the Ural Range.
Volga river. satellite view
In winter, the Volga is shackled by ice for a very long time. The reason for this lies in the general climatic conditions of the areas through which the river flows.
The enormous length of the Volga and the various degrees of latitude and longitude between which it flows, determine, together with the depth, the speed of the current and the properties of the banks, a significant difference in the time of opening and freezing of its various parts. Although the source of the Volga lies much north of the mouth, the upper part of the river is opened almost simultaneously with the lower, which should mainly be attributed to the too western position of the upper part, due to which the Volga is sometimes opened at Tver much earlier than at Kamyshin.
The river is opened at its two opposite ends almost simultaneously, and only after that the middle part is opened.
Freezing starts from the top and goes gradually down.
In addition, it has been noted that the time of opening and freezing of the Volga in the same places, but in different years, is very different.
In the middle part of the Volga, ice drift is always longer than in the upper and lower parts. As for the tributaries, the right ones, flowing in from the south and west, are opened earlier, and the left ones are northern, later than the Volga itself at the mouths of these tributaries.
The later opening of some left tributaries, especially the Kama, has a direct effect on the increase in the duration of the ice drift and, consequently, on the reduction of navigation time.
For the entire Volga, the duration of the spring ice drift, after which the river is finally cleared of ice, is, on average, from 2 to 3 weeks.
The autumn ice drift is much longer, namely from one week to two or more months, and the river, especially in the lower parts, freezes several times, then opens again.
Volga river. Nizhny Novgorod
Immediately after the passage of spring ice, profit and flooding of water on the Volga begin.
However, the horizon of the upper part of the Volga, from the source to the mouth of the Kama, rises even at the very passage of ice, due to the strong flow of water from above and the backwater of ice in the lower parts.
Moreover, this elevation sometimes occurs so quickly that the water in the tributaries of the Volga is delayed and even receives a reverse flow upward from their mouth.
It also happens that spring waters reach their full flood and their highest height before the river is completely clear of ice.
Attention!
The height of spring waters varies significantly in different years, it is determined by the amount of snow remaining until spring, by the degree of speed of its melting and the time of onset of high temperature in the entire Volga basin. In addition, the height of spring water depends on the nature of the banks: where the banks are low, the water discharge is expressed by a wide flood and a slight rise in level; where they are high and where, therefore, there cannot be a wide overflow, the profit of water is expressed by a significant rise.
Source: https://geographyofrussia.com/volga-2/
Volga, the most Russian river
The most Russian river, the image of which has forever remained both in folk art and in the works of artists, musicians and writers. A toiling river, a feeding river, in whose basin a huge part of the population of Russia lives.
The whole history of Russia is connected with the Volga, the river, which became the site of the most important events, a source of inspiration for artists and writers, a favorite image in folk art.
OVER THE VOLGA WIDE
In the deep forest, the great Volga will be born, a river to all our rivers, mother and queen to all Russian rivers.
The Volga is the largest and most abundant river in the Russian Plain and throughout Europe. On the Valdai Hills, silt at a height of 256 meters above the level of the Caspian Sea, the Volga begins its long journey.
A small, unremarkable stream flows out of a swamp overgrown with thick grass, surrounded by a dense mixed forest. This is the source of one of the greatest rivers in the world - the Volga.
And therefore people come here in a continuous chain to take a sip of water at the birthplace of the great river, to look with their own eyes at a tiny spring, over which a modest wooden chapel is placed.
The Volga water, which came to the surface near the village of Volgoverkhovye, Ostashkovsky district, Tver region, has a very long way to go to the mouth on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea.
In a small stream and a small river, the Volga flows through several lakes: Maly and Bolshoi Verkhit, Sterzh, Vetlug, Peno and Volgo, and only after taking the Selizharovka River. flowing from Lake Seliger, it becomes wider and fuller.
But the truly full-flowing river Volga appears after the confluence of the Oka at Nizhny Novgorod. Here the Upper Volga ends and the Middle Volga begins, which will flow and collect new tributaries until it joins the Kama, which flows into the Kama Bay of the Kuibyshev reservoir.
Here begins the Lower Volga, the river is no longer just full-flowing, but mighty.
Through the Volga in the XIII-XVI centuries. Mongol-Tatar invaders went to Russia, in 1552 the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible took Kazan and annexed it to the Moscow kingdom.
In the Time of Troubles in Russia, in Nizhny Novgorod, in 1611, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and the merchant Kuzma Minin gathered a militia to liberate Moscow from the Poles.
As the legend says, on the Volga cliff, later named after him, the Cossack ataman Stepan Razin “thought about how to give free rein to the Russian people. Along the Volga in 1667
Stepan Razin went “with comrades” on a campaign “for zipuns” to Persia and, according to legend, drowned a Persian princess in the waters of the great river. Here, on the Volga, in 1670
near Simbirsk (today - Ulyanovsk), Razin's motley army was defeated by the asses of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
In the Volga Delta, in Astrakhan, Emperor Peter I in 1722 personally founded the port. The first Russian emperor also dreamed of connecting the Volga with the Don, but the canal was built much later, in 1952.
In 1774, near the city of Tsaritsyn (today - Volgograd, from 1925 to 1961 - Stalingrad), the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev ended with a defeat from government troops. Here in July 1918 - February 1919
The Red Army held the later famous "Tsaritsyno Defense" from the White-Cossack army of General Krasnov. And from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943
in these places, the greatest Battle of Stalingrad in history took place, which broke the back of fascism and determined the outcome of the Second World War.
RIVER-WORKER
For centuries, the Volga served as a transport artery for people, a source of water, fish, and energy. Today, the great river is in danger - its pollution from human activity threatens with disaster.
Already in the VIII century. The Volga was an important trade route between East and West. It is thanks to her that today archaeologists find Arabic silver coins in Scandinavian burials.
By the X century. in the south, in the lower reaches of the river, trade was controlled by the Khazar Khaganate with its capital Itil at the mouth of the Volga. On the Middle Volga, such a center was the Bulgar kingdom with the capital Bulgar (not far from modern Kazan).
In the north, in the Upper Volga region, the Russian cities of Rostov the Great, Suzdal and Murom grew rich and grew largely thanks to the Volga trade.
Honey, wax, furs, fabrics, spices, metals, jewelry and many other goods floated up and down the Volga, which was then more often called Itil.
The very name Volga first appears in The Tale of Bygone Years at the beginning of the 11th century.
After the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia in the XIII century. trade along the Volga weakens and begins to recover only in the 15th century. After Ivan the Terrible in the middle of the XVI century.
conquered and annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates to the Moscow kingdom, the entire Volga river system ended up on the territory of Russia. The flourishing of trade and the growth of the influence of the cities of Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Kostroma began.
New cities arose on the Volga - Samara, Saratov. Tsaritsyn. Hundreds of ships roamed the river in trading caravans.
In 1709, the Vyshnevolotsk water system, built by order of Peter I, began to operate, thanks to which food and timber were delivered from the Volga to the new capital of Russia - St. Petersburg. By the beginning of the XIX century.
the Mariinsky and Tikhvinskaya water systems are already operating, providing communication with the Baltic, since 1817 the first motor ship has joined the Volga river fleet, barges along the river are dragged by artels of barge haulers, the number of which reaches several hundred thousand people.
Ships carry fish, salt, grain, and by the end of the century, more oil and cotton.
Construction of the Moscow Canal (1932-1937), the Volga-Don Canal (1948-1952), the Volga-Baltic Canal (1940-1964) and the Volga-Kama Cascade - the largest complex of hydraulic structures (dams, locks, reservoirs, canals and hydroelectric power stations) allowed to solve many problems.
Attention!
The Volga became the largest transport artery, connected, in addition to the Caspian, with four more seas - the Black, Azov, Baltic, White.
Its waters helped to irrigate fields in the arid regions of the Volga region, and hydroelectric power plants - to provide energy for multi-million cities and largest enterprises.
However, the intensive use of the Volga by man has led to the pollution of the river with industrial effluents and agricultural waste. Millions of hectares of land and thousands of settlements were flooded, the fish resources of the river suffered great damage.
Today, environmentalists are sounding the alarm - the river's ability to self-purify has been exhausted, it has become one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. Poisonous blue-green algae capture the Volga, serious fish mutations are observed.
CURIOUS FACTS
■ The Volga basin is extremely diverse in terms of physical and geographical conditions: taiga and mixed forests in the north, forest-steppe and steppe in the center, semi-desert and desert in the south.
■ No final decision has been made yet. that the Kama flows into the Volga. According to the rules of hydrography, rather, it should be considered that the Volga flows into the Kama. By origin, the Kama is older than the Volga, its basin is larger than the Volga, it has more tributaries.
■ Often on the banks of the Volga one can see huge boulders the size of a human being, or even an entire hut. In some places, boulders pile up in the very bed of the river. These are witnesses of the last glaciation.
■ Lotus fields in the Volga delta cover hundreds of hectares. These are the largest lotus plantations on our planet.
Many tourists come to see the flowering of the "Caspian rose", as lotuses are called here, from about July 10 to September 15.
However, these excursions are possible only when accompanied by state inspectors and employees of the Astrakhan Reserve - this is a strictly protected area.
■ 65 out of 100 Russian cities with the most polluted atmosphere are located in the Volga basin.
More than a third of all Russian polluted effluents enter the basins of the Volga region.
In this densely populated and industrialized part of Russia, the average annual toxic load on ecosystems is many times higher than the national average.
ATTRACTION
■ Ancient cities of Russia: Tver, Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ples, Kineshma, Yuryevets, Gorodets. Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan.
Kamyshin and others;■ Volzhsko-Kama Reserve;■ Historical and archival reserve "Bulgar settlement";■ National Park "Samarskaya Luka" (Zhigulev mountains);■ Stepan Razin's Rock;■ Stolbichi Mountains;
■ Astrakhan Nature Reserve.
Atlas. The whole world is in your hands №17
Read in this issue:
NETHERLANDS: Land of tulips and windmills
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Into Modernity - From the Stone Age
FLORENCE: Symphony of the Arts
VOLGA: The most Russian river
NUBIAN DESERT: From the Bend of the Nile
Arkansas: Land of Opportunity
DENMARK: Industrial country without natural resources
Source: http://asonov.com/goroda-i-strany/volga-samaya-russkaya-reka.html
Where does the Volga river flow? Interesting Facts
Russia is the largest country in the world by area. On a vast territory, the largest rivers of the Earth flow: the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur. Among them is the longest river in Europe - the Volga. Its length is 3530 km, and the basin area is 1360 thousand m2.
The Volga River flows in the European part of Russia: from the Valdai Upland in the west, along the eastern side - to the Urals, in the south of the country it flows into the Caspian Sea. A small part of the delta enters the territory of Kazakhstan.
The Volga River is the largest river in Europe
The source of the river is located on the Valdai Upland, in the village of Volgoverkhovye, Tver Region.
A small stream, receiving about 150,000 tributaries, including 200 small and large rivers, is gaining power and strength and turns into a mighty river.
A special monument to the river was erected at the place of its source.
The fall of the river along its length does not exceed 250 m. The mouth of the river lies 28 m below sea level. The territory of Russia adjacent to the Volga is called the Volga region.
There are four million-plus cities along the banks of the river: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara and Volgograd. The first large settlement on the Volga from the source is the city of Rzhev, and the last in the delta is Astrakhan.
The Volga is the world's largest river of internal flow, i.e. not flowing into the oceans.
The picturesque mouth of the Volga
The main part of the Volga area, from the source to Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, is located in the forest zone, the middle part of the basin to Samara and Saratov is in the forest-steppe zone, the lower part is to Volgograd in the steppe zone, and to the south in the semi-desert zone.
The Volga is usually divided into three parts: the upper Volga - from the source to the mouth of the Oka, the middle Volga - from the confluence of the Oka to the mouth of the Kama, and the lower Volga - from the confluence of the Kama to the confluence of the Caspian Sea.
River history
For the first time, the Greek scientist Herodotus spoke about the river.
Then information about the Volga is found in the notes of the Persian king Darius, who described his campaigns against the Scythian tribes.
Roman sources speak of the Volga as a "generous river", hence the name - "Ra". In Russia, the river is spoken of in the famous Tale of Bygone Years.
Since the time of Russia, the Volga has been an important trading link - an artery where the Volga trade route was founded. Through this route, Russian merchants traded in oriental fabrics, metal, honey, and wax.
Volga river on the map
After the conquest of the Volga basin by Ivan the Terrible, trade began to flourish, peaking in the 17th century. Over time, a river fleet arose on the Volga.
In the 19th century, an army of barge haulers worked on the Volga, which is the subject of a painting by the Russian artist Ilya Repin. At that time, huge supplies of salt, fish, and bread were transported along the Volga. Then cotton was added to these goods, and later oil.
During the Civil War, the Volga was the main strategic point, which provided the army with bread and food, and also made it possible to quickly transfer forces with the help of the fleet.
Painting by Ilya Repin “Barge haulers on the Volga”, 1872-1873
When Soviet power was established in Russia, the river began to be used as a source of electricity. In the 20th century, 8 hydroelectric power plants were built on the Volga.
During the Second World War, the Volga was the most important river for the USSR, as armies and food supplies were transferred through it. In addition, on the Volga, in Stalingrad (now Volgograd), the largest battle took place.
Now the Volga basin is producing oil and natural gas reserves that support the Russian economy. In some areas potash and table salt are mined.
Flora and fauna of the river
The Volga is fed predominantly by snow (60%), some is rain fed (10%), and groundwater feeds the Volga by 30%.
The water in the river is warm, in summer the temperature does not fall below + 20-25 degrees. The river freezes at the end of November in the upper reaches, and in the lower reaches - in December.
The river is frozen 100-160 days a year.
Blooming lotus on the Volga
Large populations of fish live in the river: crucian carp, zander, perch, ide, pike. Catfish, burbot, ruff, sturgeon, bream and sterlet also live in the waters of the Volga. In total there are about 70 species of fish.
Birds settle in the Volga delta: ducks, swans, herons. Flamingos and pelicans live on the Volga. And the famous flowers grow - lotuses. Although the Volga is heavily polluted by industrial enterprises, aquatic vegetation (lotus, water lily, reed, water chestnut) is still preserved in it.
Tributaries of the Volga
Approximately 200 tributaries flow into the Volga, and most of them are on the left side. The left tributaries are much more abundant than the right ones.
The largest tributary of the Volga is the Kama River. Its length reaches 2000 km. The beginning of the tributary takes on the Verkhnekamsk Upland.
Kama has more than 74 thousand tributaries, 95% are rivers up to 10 km long.
The Kama River is a tributary of the Volga
Hydrotechnical studies also indicate that the Kama is older than the Volga. But the last ice age and the construction of reservoirs on the Kama seriously reduced its length.
In addition to the Kama, tributaries of the Volga stand out:
- Sura;
- Tvertsa;
- Sviyaga;
- Vetluga;
- Unzha;
- Mologa and others.
Tourism on the Volga
The Volga is a picturesque river, so tourism is flourishing on it. The Volga makes it possible to visit a large number of Volga cities in a short time. Cruises along the Volga are a common type of recreation on the river.
Cruise along the Volga
The journey lasts from 3-5 days to a month. It includes visiting the most beautiful cities of the country, located along the Volga. The favorable period for traveling along the Volga is from the beginning of May to the end of September.
- The Kama, a tributary of the Volga, hosts an annual sailing competition, the largest in Europe.
- The Volga appears in the literary and artistic works of Russian classics: Gorky, Nekrasov, Repin.
- Feature films have been made about the Volga, including "Volga, Volga" in 1938, "A bridge is being built" in 1965.
- The Volga is considered to be the "homeland of barge haulers." Sometimes 600 thousand barge haulers could work hard at the same time.
- A controversial point: it is generally accepted that the Kama is a tributary of the Volga River. But geographers and hydrologists are still arguing which of the rivers is the main one. The fact is that at the confluence of the Volga rivers, it carries 3,100 cubic meters of water per second, but the “productivity” of the Kama is 4,300 cubic meters per second. It turns out that the Volga ends just below Kazan, and then the Kama River already flows, and it is the Kama that flows into the Caspian Sea.
The confluence of the Volga and Kama
- The Arabs, impressed by the scale of the Volga, called it "Itil", which means "river" in Arabic.
- The Volga pours 250 cubic kilometers of water into the Caspian Sea every day. However, the level of this sea continues to decline steadily.
- On May 20, Volga Day is celebrated in Russia.
