The Sura River flows into the Volga. The source of the Sura River, the village of Sura Peaks, Baryshsky District, Ulyanovsk Region

Sura, begins in the area of ​​Surskaya Shishki. This hill that gives rise to stormy river, announced Just below Surskaya Shishka, the Sura River crosses the eastern part of the Penza region, and then, after a sharp bend near the village of Sursky Ostrog, again

returns to the Ulyanovsk region. Flowing through a trapezoidal valley, the Sura gives birth to eleven tributaries, including the large Barysh, and flows into the mighty Volga.

Sura is a stormy river. It is famous for its rapid current, sharp turns of the riverbed, long sand spits and steep banks. The river is fed by melted snow and numerous small springs, and thanks to this, the water at the sources of the Sura is very clean and cold. The banks of the river are overgrown with tall golden pines, and many small lakes and forest swamps have formed in its floodplain and watersheds. In spring, the Sura leaves its banks and overflows two kilometers or more.

Before the revolution, this river was famous for its fish - it was very tasty and was valued much more than fish from the Volga. In those days, the river was inhabited by pike, chub, sterlet and smaller species such as roach. Barbaric and uncontrolled fishing has depleted its wealth. Now the blue Sura is of interest mainly to tourists and athletes, because it is along it that one of the most picturesque kayaking routes in Russia runs. In the spring, during high water, the river is “conquered” mainly by professional athletes, and novice tourists come to visit Sura in the summer, when the river calms down a little.

The route begins in the village of Tyukhmenevo, passes by Chaadaevka, Penza, Alatyr and Shumerlya, and ends in Vasilsursk. The length of the Sura from Tyukhmenevo to Vasilsursk is 850 kilometers. The beginning of the route is always difficult, because the Sura River is especially obstinate at its source. To the brave ones who decided to complete the route in early spring, you will have to kayak through the flooded bushes. Returns to its permanent after

At the source the river bed is very narrow, in some places its width does not exceed three meters. The Sura River becomes much wider after the Truev tributary flows into it. The river calms down, its flow becomes slower, and the banks become covered with pine forests. However, the bends of the Sura are still steep and make the route difficult. They become larger and smoother after the place where Teshnyar flows into the river. Further on, the Sura becomes even wider, and small sands appear along its banks.

other beaches.

The twenty-kilometer Penza reservoir, fed by Sura, begins behind Kanaevka, and in front of Penza tourists face numerous obstacles - sand spits, islands and shoals. Beyond Penza, the banks of the river become gentle, and the Sura flows smoothly and calmly. Sura is especially good in the spring, near the village of Prokazna. There the river is surrounded by flowering gardens, and near Aleksandrovka it adorns itself with impressive limestone and chalk cliffs. Below, the river is surrounded by rocky banks and becomes deep and navigable. In the lower reaches the river flow is calm but fast.

Each flood changes the appearance of the river. It is “overgrown” with new shallows, spits and oxbow lakes. Thanks to such changes, the route does not become boring. Constantly renewing itself, the Sura River gives tourists new experiences every year.

Sura (Chuvash. Săr, mountain mar. Shur, Erz. Sura lei) is a large right tributary of the Volga, the second largest river in the Ulyanovsk region. Flows along Ulyanovsk, Penza and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Mordovia, Mari El and Chuvashia. The largest city on Sura - Penza. The cities of Sursk, Alatyr, Yadrin, Shumerlya are also located on the Sura, and the Vasilsursk pier is at the mouth.

The length of the river is 841 km (within the Ulyanovsk region the Sura flows 160 km, receiving 10 tributaries), the basin area is 67,500 km2, the annual flow is 8.16 cubic km (Domanitsky et al. 1971). The density of the river network is 0.47 (twice the average for Central Russia); lake content and swampiness are less than 1%, only in the upper reaches the swampiness is 2%.

1. Origin of the name.
Soviet linguist B.A. Serebrennikov did not exclude the possibility that the name of the river could be due to one of the extinct Volga languages, which in the Sura basin could precede Mordovian.
The Sur river basin is connected with the territories of the most ancient habitat of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region - the Mordvins and Mari, who preceded the Turkic-speaking peoples here - the Chuvash and Tatars. It is possible that in the upper reaches of the river the ancient Finno-Ugrians were in contact with the ancient Iranian-Sarmatian tribes, and the name could have an Iranian-language basis. In a number of Iranian languages, the common noun sur, surkh in the meaning of “brown”, “red” is still used, which means the color of clayey banks and the brownish tint of water flowing along a silt-clay bed. It is also possible that this hydronym has a Finno-Ugric origin - Suuri - “big”, “great”).
The Mari call the Sura River with the word Shur, which correlates with the Udmurt common noun shur - “river”. In the Mordovian language, the name of the river sounds the same as in Russian - Sura (sometimes Suro).

2. Historical information.
Along the Sura River, the formation of Mordovian tribes in the Ulyanovsk Volga region took place. The western border of Volga Bulgaria ran along the Sura River. Until the 16th century, the eastern border of the Moscow principality passed along the Sura. In 1552, at the Barancheev settlement (village of Baryshskaya Sloboda, Sursky district), the regiments of the princes Kurbsky, Serebryany, Mstislavsky and Vorotynsky, going to “fight Kazan,” crossed the Sura. “Defensive lines” and “barf lines” stretched from Sura to the Volga, saving them from raids by nomads. The Undorovskaya serif line stretched across the territory of the modern Ulyanovsk region from Promzino to Undory (the beginning of construction is estimated in 1550). In 1647, construction began on the Simbirsk-Karsun border line (stretching from Sursky Ostrog to Simbirsk).
From the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. The Sura River was one of the most important transport arteries of the Simbirsk province. It made it possible to move a variety of cargo to the central regions of Russia. The time of mass rafting along the Sura was a flood, when the water level rose noticeably. The flood happened on the Sura earlier than on the Volga, so cargo, and in particular the famous Sura bread, was delivered to the exchanges Nizhny Novgorod and Rybinsk earlier Volga. Of the piers that existed on Sura in the mid-19th century, the Promzinskaya pier was considered the largest. From the “description of the village of Promzino” (I. Tokmakov, 1895), “half of all the bread purchased for shipment from the Sursky piers is sent from the Promzinskaya pier. In addition, some products, such as lard, potash, flax-seed are almost exclusively loaded at this wharf; Potash, however, is also loaded in Poretsky. In total, the following quantity was sent from the piers of Alatyr and Karsun districts in 1865 various kinds breads and products... in the amount of 2,000,000 rubles. sir."
One of five expeditions of the ornithologist S.A. Buturlina took place in the Middle Sur region. In 1919-1921 S.A. Buturlin, already a world-famous scientist, together with Professor B.M. Zhitkov led the Sursky expedition created by the People's Commissariat of Education of the USSR, which was engaged in collecting an ornithological collection for the Institute of Natural History organized in Alatyr (Chuvashia). Created in 1985 (order of the Main Directorate of Hunting of the RSFSR dated January 28, 1985), the Sursky Republican Zoological Reserve is named after S.A. Buturlina.
In 1996, the expedition “Outposts of the Fatherland” was organized and carried out, dedicated to the 350th anniversary of Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk. The expedition passed along the former defensive line of the 17th century - the Belgorod-Simbirsk line along its entire length, including in the interfluve of the Sura and Barysh rivers. Based on the results of the expedition, 11 episodes of television programs were prepared, and a number of articles were published in local publications.

3. Geographical information.

The Sura originates on the Surskaya Shishka hill (at an altitude of 293 m), flows to the west, then from the city of Penza mainly to the north, almost in a meridional direction, and flows into the Volga near the city of Vasilsursk. The mouth lies at an altitude of 193 m. The total fall is 101 m. It belongs to the Volga River basin.
The Sura receives more than 40 tributaries. The left tributaries are more numerous and have more water than the right ones. The largest tributaries are the Piana, Alatyr and Barysh.
The Sura basin is 67.5 thousand km2 (more than twice the area of ​​Belgium) and is located on the Volga Upland and on the Mezhpyanye Upland. Most of the catchment occurs within the forest-steppe zone.
The Sura is usually divided into 3 parts: the upper section of the river - from the source to the mouth of the Uza, the middle section - from the mouth of the Uza to the mouth of the Barysh River, and the lower section - from the mouth of the Barysh River to the mouth of the Sura near the city of Vasilsursk.

Source.
The source of the river is located on the Surskaya Shishka hill (southwest of the Ulyanovsk region), at an altitude of 293 m.
In the middle of the 20th century, the source of the river was 10–12 km east of the village of Surskie Vershiny. Even 20 years ago, the source was on the southeastern outskirts of the village of Surskie Vershiny, but now it is actually not there. This is explained by the fact that the forests around have been severely destroyed, and the remaining ones have been severely destroyed, and the remaining ones have been greatly thinned out and have lost their water-protection value. In the ravine itself, where the springs were located, there used to be a lot of willow trees. Willows grew and were largely cut down. But, most importantly, a dam was created in the ravine and a reservoir appeared, as a result all the springs turned out to be silted. Today's actual source of the Sura in the form of a stream 20-30 cm deep and 1.2 - 2.0 m wide begins slightly below Filippov Klyuch at the confluence of the Chernaya and Karmala rivers, and is located 2 km southwest of the outskirts of the village of Surskie Vershiny. It is a Natural Monument (the source of the Sura River was approved as a natural monument by decision of the Ulyanovsk Regional Executive Committee No. 204 of May 8, 1988).

The upper section of the Sura River.

The upper section of the river (from the source to the mouth of the Uza) has a length of 170 km. The valley of the upper Sura is narrow - 150-170 m and has a mountainous character. Many forests. The river bed is permanent, as it passes through bedrock sandstones and stony clays. For 70 km, it flows between the ridges of the Ulyanovsk and then the Penza region. During the low-water period, the Sura has an average depth of 50-60 cm and a width of 3-4 m. In May, after the decline spring flood, in the area of ​​Sosnovoborsk (Penza region), the river has a width of about 10-15 m, a depth of up to 1 m. The river is interrupted by riffles with a depth not exceeding 20 cm. Only at the confluence of the river. Teshnyar, and especially the forest Kadada, Sura becomes more full-flowing. Kadada and Uza are large right tributaries of the Sura. The upper section ends at the mouth of the Uza.

The middle section of the Sura River.

Below Usa, the valley emerges from bedrock and increases to 3–12 km. The floodplain acquires a uniform, flat surface. Since the mid-70s, the section from the mouth of the Uza to the city of Penza has been flooded with the waters of the Penza Reservoir, the dam has a height of 6 m. Behind the dam, a section of 50-60 km stands out from the rest of the river due to its extreme low water content. This area is polluted by industrial and domestic wastewater from Penza. Only after 100 km, to the mouth of the right tributary Aiva, the Sura becomes relatively clean. Here it is 50-60 m wide and 3-4 m deep in the ravines. It flows in a well-defined valley from 3 to 5 km. Below the mouth of the Quince to the mouth of the next tributary of the Inza (the source is on the Surskaya Shishka hill), and further to Sabaev (Mordovia), the Sura is heavily snagged and has many rifts - pebbly, sandy, rocky. Near the mouth of the Inza, the river comes close to the right, high bank of the valley. The current speed here reaches 1 m/s. Here rocky ridges overlook the Sura. There are similar ridges near the city of Alatyr, above the city of Shumerlya, above the city of Yadrina.
At a distance of 200 km from Penza, in the area of ​​the village. Bolshie Berezniki, the width of the river increases to 120 m, and the depth to 4-5 m. From the village. Surskoe to the town of Alatyr, the river fairway often changes, and the width in some places does not exceed 50 m. At the village. Baryshskaya Sloboda river mouth Barysh (right tributary, length 247 km) is the lower boundary of the middle section of the Sura. The length of this section from Uza to Barysh is 360 km.

The lower section of the Sura River.
Below the city of Alatyr, which stands 296 km from the mouth, the largest tributary, the Alatyr River (length 307 km), flows into the Sura on the left. From the city of Alatyr the river becomes wider and freer, but deep sections are still interrupted by shallow waters.
At 118 km from the mouth, another large tributary flows into the Sura - the Piana River.
In the lower reaches there have been significant changes associated with the construction of the Cheboksary reservoir. As a result of the backwater of the Sura waters with the waters of the reservoir, the Sura Bay was formed, about 120 km long.

Features of the Sura River.
A characteristic feature of the Sura River is its extreme poor development higher aquatic vegetation along the entire length of the river, with the exception of the area located between Lunino and Penza. In some places you may find only small clumps of sedge and arrowhead. One of the reasons is the high turbidity of the water in the river. Other reasons include soil mobility due to constant erosion both off the coast and at the core under the influence of high current speeds.

4. Hydrology.

The annual flow is 8.16 km3 per year (3 km3 less than 120 years ago). Water content in the middle reaches (Kadyshevo village, Karsun district, Ulyanovsk region) from 14.3 cubic meters. per second in winter low water, up to 1050 cubic meters. per second during the spring flood of water. Average consumption water (village Kadyshevo) 96.7 cubic meters. per second

The flow speeds of the Sura are high for a flat river. This is explained by the significant slope of the bed (12 cm/km (Volga - 7 cm/km)). In the upper section, the current speed is on average 0.7 - 0.8 m/sec. Between Quince and Inza the prevailing current is 0.7 - 1.0 m/sec, and even a little higher on the rifts. Below Sabaev to Bolshie Bereznyaki - 0.2 - 0.5 m/sec. In the middle and lower reaches the speed is from 0.1 to 0.5, on the rapids up to 0.7 m/sec.

The peculiarity of soils is their mobility. The upper reaches are dominated by clean, coarse-grained sands (about 80% of the bottom area). Silty soils are found only in areas of calm water - below spits, at the bottom of pools, below inflowing tributaries.
In the middle reaches, siltation of soil increases, especially near the banks and at the bottom of the reaches. Along the river's stem, in addition to clean sandy soils, there are pebble and flagstone soils. Sometimes you come across clayey soils (Picherki, Sursky district).
In the lower reaches, the degree of siltation increases even more. The layer of silt is especially large in the last 15 km from the mouth and at the mouth itself (up to 1 m).

Transparency. Under clear weather conditions and no rain in the middle reaches, the transparency is 20-30 cm (Secchi disk white, serves to determine water transparency) is visible at a depth of 20-30 cm), less often 50-60 cm. After heavy rainfall, transparency decreases to 0-5 cm.
Turbidity is 100-200 g/m3, during spring floods up to 1500 g/m3, which characterizes the high erosion activity of modern Sura.

According to the chemical composition, Sura waters belong to the hydrocarbonate class (nitrogen; phosphates; fluorides; copper; iron; mineral calcination. dry residue; petroleum products; anionic surfactants).

Average date of break-up (beginning of spring ice drift) at the r.p. Surskoe April 9-11, average duration spring ice drift - 4 days. The average freezing date (beginning of freeze-up) is November 20. Autumn ice drift is an uncharacteristic phenomenon.

5. Literature.

1. Baranov A.A., Lobina N.V. total ed. Geographical local history, Ulyanovsk, “Promotion Technologies Corporation”, 2002;
2. Barashkov V.F. Following the traces of geographical names of the Ulyanovsk region. Ulyanovsk, “Simbirsk Book”, 1994;
3. Bodrikova V.N. resp. ed. Agroclimatic resources of the Ulyanovsk region. Leningrad, Hydrometeorological Publishing House, 1968;
4. Blagoveshchensky V.V. resp. ed. Specially protected natural areas Ulyanovsk region, Ulyanovsk, “House of Printing”, 1997;
5. Gurkin V.A. New information about the founding of Simbirsk. - On Sat. – Man in Russian culture. Ulyanovsk, 1997, p. 64-66;
6. Domanitsky A. P., Dubrovina R. G., Isaeva A. I. Rivers and lakes Soviet Union(Reference data) / Ed. prof. A. A. Sokolova. - Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1971. - P. 38;
7. Dushin A.I., Buzakova A.M., Kamenev A.G. Fauna of the Sura River. Saransk, Mordovian book publishing house, 1983;
8. Kalyanov K.S., Vesnina G.Z. Geography of the Ulyanovsk region. Publishing house of Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University, 1997;
9. Kleyankin A.V. Native Prisurye, Volga Book Publishing House, Ulyanovsk branch, 1974;
10. Kuzminsky N.A. Our native land. Volga Book Publishing House, Ulyanovsk branch, 1975;
11. Lobina N.V. resp. ed. Dictionary of geographical names of the Ulyanovsk region. Ulyanovsk, Promotion Technologies Corporation, 2004;
12. Materials of the Regional Scientific and Practical Conference of Education Workers “Local History in the System of General Secondary Education.” Ulyanovsk, 1997.
13. Superansky M.. Simbirsk and its past, Ulyanovsk, “Laboratory of Cultural Studies”, 1993;
14. Preobrazhensky R.A.. Handwritten book about the village of Promzino, Promzino, 1913;
15. Sirotin K.F. Essays from the history of Prisurye. R.p. Surskoe, 1976;
16. Tokmakov I.. Description of the village of Promzino-Gorodishche, Moscow, Vilde printing house, 1895;

In the European part of Russia, in the Ulyanovsk, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod regions, the Republics of Mordovia, Chuvashia and Mari El. Sura is the second most water-bearing right tributary of the Volga.

In the Chuvash language, Sura means “big river”.

Until the 16th century The border of the Moscow principality passed along the Sura.

The Sura originates on the Volga Upland in the Ulyanovsk region near the village. Sursky Peaks. The predominant heights of the basin are 150–300 m. The drainage basin is composed of limestones, clays, marls, and sands. Karst is developed. In the upper reaches it has a western and then mainly northern direction. The Sura basin is asymmetrical: the area of ​​the left bank is almost twice as large as the right bank. The length of the river is 841 km, the basin area is 67.5 thousand km 2 - the 3rd largest tributary of the Volga (after the Kama and Oka) and the 4th largest tributary of the Volga. Most major tributaries Suras: Barysh and Inza (right), Piana, Alatyr and Uza (left). There are more than 2.5 thousand lakes and reservoirs in the Sura basin. The largest reservoir is the Surskoye (Penza) reservoir (filled in 1978).

The climate in the Sura basin is moderate continental. average temperature January is about -12°C, and July is +19°C. On average, up to 680 mm of precipitation falls per year. Under conditions of sufficient moisture, the catchment area is occupied by forest, forest-steppe and steppe vegetation. The forest cover of the basin is about 40%. The northern part of the basin is dominated by broad-leaved and pine forests, while the southern part is dominated by steppes. Gray podzolized or gray forest soils form under the forests. Chernozems are distributed over 65% of the basin area. The plowed area is 25%.

Sura drains the territory of the Volga Upland. Up to the Sursky reservoir, the river forms bends, alternating with straight sections along the right steep bedrock bank. The left slope of the Sura valley is gentle. There are many ravines on the slopes of the valley. The rate of coastal erosion is up to 2 m/year. The river bed is sandy. Below Penza, a relatively straight wide floodplain channel predominates, only occasionally replaced by sections of a winding channel. The width of the channel in the lower reaches of the river is 250–300 m. The channel relief includes moving ridges of different sizes.

The average annual water flow near the village. Knyazhikha (catchment area 54.4 thousand km 2) is 215 m 3 /s. On the border between the Republics of Chuvashia and Mari El (65.5 thousand km 2), the average long-term water flow is 251 m 3 /s, the flow volume is 7.922 km 3. The river's feeding is mixed, mostly snow.

The river belongs to the Eastern European type of water regime. The main phase is spring flood (April–May). The maximum water flow of Sura is 2650 m 3 /s. During winter low water flows decrease to 44.4 m 3 /s. Freeze-up lasts from November–December until the end of March–April.

The average annual turbidity of the river varies from 0.24 kg/m 3 in the upper reaches to 0.31 kg/m 3 in the lower reaches. The water's chemical composition belongs to the hydrocarbonate class and calcium group with an average mineralization during low water periods of 320–350 mg/l. To the mouth chemical composition water corresponds to the sulfate class (average mineralization 500–550 mg/l). The river waters are significantly polluted.

The water resources of Sura are used for drinking and industrial water supply to the city of Alatyr and other settlements. The water resources of the Sur reservoir provide water intake for irrigation purposes. The small hydroelectric power station of the reservoir has an installed capacity of 0.2 MW. Sura is a wastewater receiver. The river is navigable for the lower 394 km. Sand and gravel are extracted from riverbed quarries.

An attractive object for water tourism. Sura is famous for its picturesque shores and fishing. Carp, pike perch, and pike spawn in Sura. Other objects fishing: catfish, bream, asp, sabrefish, crucian carp, roach, silver bream, white-eye, perch, ruff, sprat, bleak. In former times, the river was famous for the Sur sterlet.

On the banks of the Sura are the cities of Sursk, Penza, Alatyr and Yadrin.

N.I. Alekseevsky, K.F. Retheum

Sura (Chuvash. Săr, mountain mar. Shur, erz. Sura lei)- right tributary Volga, one of the most picturesque rivers of the Volga Upland.

Ice drift on the Sura River
Sergey Karpeev
Is the bream flicking its fin?
Or a pike will strike with its tail -
Will buzz on a fine day
A stretch of smoky radiance.

The river flow will break through
Ice loosening your back
And will leave behind
Trace the muddy abyss.

Snowwoman of spring waters
It will infuse on the floors -
And the rapids will roar,
An icy hoof.

They will be crushed every hour
Becoming a winter shackle.
Wagtail's brittle voice -
The hymn to spring will announce again.

The forest looks from the upper reaches
Into distant kinks.
The path of the ice drifts
Into the ghoul's eyes.

It should be assumed that the Kama tribes, having come to Sura, could have found here the ancient Mordovian name - rau(river), the meaning of which they did not know. Living on the shores of Sur for several hundred years, the newcomers added the native word Shur to the name Rau. The result was a hybrid name Shur + Rau. Then Prisurye again became the patrimony of the ancient Mordovians. As a result, the hydronym could be pronounced Surau, the final “a” arose under the influence of the Russian word for “river”.

It flows through the Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Penza regions, Mordovia, Mari El and Chuvashia.

The length of the river is 841 km, the basin area is 67.5 thousand km².

It originates on the Volga Upland near the village of Surskie Vershiny (Baryshsky district of the Ulyanovsk region - Height 301 m), and flows along it first to the west, then mainly to the north.

SURA RIVER

Volga Upland - the hill on the right bank of the Volga from Nizhny Novgorod to Volgograd. Height up to 384 m. Predominant height 150-200 m. Width up to 500 km. The Volga Upland steeply, in places with ledges, breaks off towards the Volga and gently declines towards the Oka-Don lowland. It is strongly dissected by a gully-beam network. Individual parts of the high Volga slope are called mountains. The Volga Upland is characterized by the presence of tectonic swells and troughs that cause the development of structural forms of relief. It is composed of limestones, clays, sands, marls and other rocks. Karst is developed.

The most high mountains on the Volga Upland: Khvalynskie Mountains.

The glacier touched only the westernmost edge of the Volga Upland. Therefore, sedimentary rocks here are not covered by thicknesses of glacial deposits and more often protrude to the surface. These are limestones, chalk, sandstones.

Sura River

In the lower reaches of the Sura, it is raftable and navigable.

Is used for industrial water supply.

On the Sura there are the cities of Sursk, Penza, Alatyr, Yadrin, Shumerlya, the village of Novaya Sloboda, at the mouth there is a pier Vasilsursk.

MOUTH OF THE SUR RIVER - VASILSURSK - VOLGA

Mouth of the Sura - Cheboksary Reservoir:

· Location Vasilsursk village(Vorotynsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region)

· Coordinates Coordinates: 56°07′23″ N. w. 45°58′21″ E. d. / 56.123056° s. w. 45.9725° E. d. (G) (O) (I).

Until the 16th century, the eastern border of the Moscow principality passed along the Sura.

MOUTH OF THE ALATYR RIVER - CHUVASHIA

Sursky line of defense - a structure near the Sura River, built on the territory of the Chuvash and Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, intended to delay Nazi troops on the approaches to Kazan along with the Kazan defensive line.

On the territory of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Sursky border ran along the Sura along the line with. Zasurskoye, Yadrinsky district - village of Pandikovo, Krasnochetaisky - village. Sursky Maidan of the Alatyr district - Alatyr to the border with the Ulyanovsk region. Tens of thousands of residents of the Czech Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic took part in the construction of the structure. The Sursky Frontier was built in 45 days.

Construction background

When in October 1941 the Wehrmacht was advancing towards Moscow and Moscow was preparing for defense in the State Defense Committee, a preliminary plan for the construction of defensive and strategic lines in the deep rear on the Oka and Don was discussed and adopted. Volga. The main and additional plans for rear defensive construction set the task of strengthening Gorky, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Stalingrad and other cities. In case of failure for Soviet troops development of defensive operations, they were supposed to delay the enemy at new lines.

PANORAMA OF THE SUR RIVER NEAR THE CITY OF YADRIN

SURA RIVER

Start of construction

Construction of the Sur defensive line began at the end of October 1941.

The construction of the defensive line, which later became known as the “Sursky Line,” began in 1941, when German troops were already near Moscow.

Completion of construction

On January 21, 1942, a telegram was sent to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs L.P. Beria, signed by the head of the 12th Army Directorate Leonyuk, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Somov, the secretary of the regional committee Charykov: “The GKO task for the construction of the Sursky defensive line has been completed. The volume of excavated earth is 3 million cubic meters, 1,600 firing points (bunkers and platforms), 1,500 dugouts and 80 km of trenches with communication passages have been built.”

SURA RIVER - ALATYR CITY

SURA RIVER -

Characteristic

The diet is mixed, with a predominance of snow.

High water in April - May.

It freezes in November - December, opens at the end of March - April.

After the construction of the Sur reservoir, the river has a regulated flow.

Flora and fauna

In Sura there are: catfish, sterlet, bream, pike perch, asp, pike, sabrefish, crucian carp, roach, silver bream, white-eye, perch, ruff, sprat, bleak.

In the old days it was famous for the Sursky sterlet.

WINTER ON THE SUR RIVER

Tributaries of the Sura

Left tributaries

Alatyr is a left tributary.

Piana is a left tributary.

Penza is a left tributary.

Penzyatka is a left tributary.

Uza is a left tributary.

Truev is a left tributary.

Shuksha is a left tributary.

Kutlya is a left tributary.

Vyas is a left tributary.

Urga is a left tributary.

Chugunka is a left tributary.

Kadada - left tributary

Right tributaries

Algashka is a right tributary.

Barysh is a right tributary.

The Abyss (tributary of the Sura) is the right tributary.

Howl is a right tributary.

Vyadya is a right tributary.

Inza is a right tributary.

Kumashka is a right tributary.

Kirya is a right tributary.

Intent

Uranka - right tributary

Yulovka is a right tributary.

SURA RIVER ON THE BORDER OF THE NIZHNY NOVGOROD REGION. AND CHUVASHIA

ONE OF THE LARGEST AND NOTABLE TRIBUTORS OF THE SURA IS THE PIANA RIVER:

Piana is a river in the European part of Russia, flowing almost entirely through the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region and for a short distance through the territory of Mordovia, the left tributary of the Sura.

The length is 436 km, the basin area is 8060 km², the distance from the mouth to the source is about 65 km. Average water flow 25 m³/s. Very winding; in the basin there are karst landforms. Navigable in the lower reaches.

MOUTH OF THE PIANA RIVER - SURA RIVER

SURA RIVER

There are different versions about the origin of the name. According to one of them, prevailing among the inhabitants of the places through which it flows, the river is named because of its bizarre character and meandering. This is how P.I. wrote about the river. Melnikov-Pechersky: “Even the first Russian inhabitants called the Drunken River because it staggers, it dangles in all directions, like a drunken woman, and, having covered five hundred miles with twists and turns, it runs up to its source and almost pours out into the Sura near it.” .

According to another, it was named due to the fact that on August 2, 1377, three years before the Battle of Kulikovo, Russian troops in the battle near this river suffered a crushing defeat from the Tatar army of Prince Arapsha; Russian army, not expecting an attack by the Tatars, he drank.

And according to the third version, the name of the river comes from the Finno-Ugric word pien, which means “small”. It is possible that the name originally came from pien, which later transformed into Piana.

SURA FLOODMAN NEAR THE CITY OF YADRIN

RAFTING ON THE SURA RIVER:

The upper reaches of the Sura River are accessible for rafting only during high water, and travel along it is of a sporting nature. Below the confluence of Kadada, you can kayak along the Sura in the summer. The river here is suitable for beginner tourists too.

Length of route sections: Tyukhmenevo—Chaadaevka—90 km, Chaadaevka—Penza—110 km, Penza—Sura station—120 km, Sura—Alatyr station—220 km, Alatyr—Shumerlya—110 km, Shumerlya—Vasilsursk— 200 km.

Along the upper reaches of the Sura they usually go from the village of Tyukhmenevo, where they get from the city of Kuznetsk by bus.

The Sura at the beginning of the route is fast, winding, and flows in low banks. During high water, it overflows and often, straightening its path, rushes through the bushes. IN May holidays The river is already entering its channel almost everywhere. In some areas its width is only 2-3 m.

VILLAGE OF PORETSKOYE

Having accepted the Truev tributary on the left, the Sura becomes wider, the flow is calmer, the banks are higher, covered with beautiful, mainly pine, forests. The forests in the area of ​​Sosnovoborsk, Nikonovo, and Zolotarevka are especially good.

After the confluence of the Teshnyar, the loops of the Sura become larger, and sandy beaches are found. The journey along the upper reaches can be completed at the Pionerskaya station, located near the river (from here you can take an electric train to Penza), or at the road bridge: in 6 km from it is the Chaadaevka station (Penza-Syzran line), where long-distance trains stop.

FLOOD ON THE SUR RIVER

After Chaadayevka, from where the journey can begin in the summer, the banks drop somewhat, and after 20 km rise again into wooded hills. In low water, especially in dry summer, some riffles may require wiring. In addition, before Kanaevka there are two dams (overflow). The villages are quite far from each other. Beaches are frequent, but many are used as livestock watering areas. The right bank is higher, steep, the left bank is lower, gentle.

20 km Below the mouth of the Uza, the construction of the dam is being completed, and soon the waters of the reservoir - the Sursky Sea - will splash here.

Before Penza and below it, the Sura wanders along the floodplain, forms oxbow lakes, channels, sand spits, islands, and numerous shoals appear.

Penza was founded in 1666 as a guard post to protect the southeastern borders of the Russian state from nomads. Nowadays it is a large industrial center. The names of writers M. Yu. Lermontov, V. G. Belinsky, N. P. Ogarev, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. M. Gorky, artist K. A. Savitsky, teacher I. N. Ulyanov are associated with the city , surgeon N. N. Burdenko, commander M. N. Tukhachevsky. Eat local history museum, art gallery, botanical garden, dramatic and puppet theaters, circus.

OLD BED OF THE SUR RIVER

Below Penza, the banks of the Sura are relatively flat and the valley is wide. After the confluence of the Vyadya River on the right, the right bank becomes higher and overgrown with forests. In the Grabovo area there is a nature reserve. In the village there is the Ustinov Palace, built in the style of a medieval castle. Downstream on the left bank is the village of Pokrovskie Vazerki, famous for its folk craft - lace making.

Residents of the left bank of the Sura were active participants in the peasant war under the leadership of E.I. Pugachev. And now here you can hear legends dating back to those distant times.

The picturesque banks of the Sura near the village of Prokazna are shrouded in a pinkish haze in spring. These are the blooming gardens of the large horticultural state farm located here.

Further, the spurs of the Volga Upland come close to the river, and in some places there are beautiful cliffs to the water. Particularly good places are in the area of ​​​​Nikityanka, Aleksandrovka, Sura station, where there are outcrops of limestone and chalk. In this section, the picturesque Ayva River, which has a large slope and is semi-mountainous in nature, flows into the right.

SURSK RESERVOIR

If the starting point of the journey is the Sura station (Ryazan-Syzran line), then you need to follow the right tributary of the Sura - Inza, which flows into 200 m from the station. Below the mouth of the Inza, sandy and rocky cliffs appear alternately on the right and then on the left. The height of some of them reaches 60 m . Gradually the Sura becomes fuller, the depth at the riffles increases. From the village Surskoe river navigable.

Near Alatyr, the width of the Sura in low water is already about 200 m, and in high water the river overflows 2-5 km. Therefore, the villages are quite far from the water. The city of Alatyr was founded in 1552 as a military fortification. Nowadays it is the industrial center of Chuvashia.

MAP OF THE SUR RIVER

In the lower reaches of the Sura it is calm, although fast. The left bank is predominantly low, floodplain, the right bank is steeper, steep, its height increases closer to the mouth. Treeless areas alternate with good, mostly deciduous, forests.

The Sura energetically moves its course along the valley. After each flood, new shoals, sand islands, spits appear, and oxbow lakes are formed. The village of Kurmysh, founded in 1372 g . as a military fortification on the banks of the Sura, is now located in 1.5 km from the river. In Kurmysh you can see the church of the early 18th century. - architectural monument.

A journey along the lower reaches of the Sura usually ends in Vasilsursk, standing on a high cliff bank of the Volga 2 km from the mouth of the Sura.

Vasilsursk, founded in 1523 g., occupied an important strategic position in waterway into the Caspian Sea. The surroundings of the city are very picturesque. One of the places with a highly dissected relief was called “Vasilsur Switzerland”. The local landscapes have long attracted artists. I. E. Repin and I. I. Shishkin worked here.

From Vasilsursk they leave by boat to Kazan or Nizhny Novgorod.

THE BEGINNING OF ICE DEVELOPMENT ON THE SURA RIVER

ARTICLE ABOUT FISHING ON SUR (

Although Sura is only one of large rivers flowing through the territory of my republic, however, the interest of fishermen in it is much greater than in others. At the same time, Sura is interesting at any time - pike catches well on the first ice, in the dead of winter you can catch good pike perch and bersh, and on the last ice Bream goes well. The most interesting fishing happens in March - April, when the fish gather in dense schools and begin to move from their wintering holes. At this time, the schools mix up - and in one hole bream, bersh, roach, pike perch, and perch are caught alternately. You most often get to see such an assortment closer to the very last ice, somewhere in late March - early April. In the dead of winter and even at the beginning of March, if spring is not too early, different fish are still taken separately, and each of them requires a separate approach.

Bream and sopa

White fish predominate in the river tall body sopa, silver bream, bream and white-eye. At least there are many more of them compared to roaches, although in some places there are also a lot of them.

And even though there are plenty of sop and bream here, the size of the fishermen’s catch can vary greatly: some have a full box, while others only got three sops. This “injustice” is associated with the peculiarities of fishing on the Sura: you have to fish in a constant and fairly strong current, and in such conditions it is very important to choose a jig of the correct weight. A fish that is too heavy will be afraid, but a fish that is too light will not reach this very fish, but will hang somewhere above the bottom. The main fishing for these fish is from the bottom, in the very bottom layer. At the same time, on some days the fish reacts better “to the game”, and on others - to the “standing” jig. Most often, anglers here fish “stand-up”, neglecting the game. But as practice shows, play, and sometimes very active play, can work wonders.

Once I went to Sura. I went out to a depth of 6 meters and began to actively search for sopa. She didn’t take it, but in one hole I caught a bershik - and only managed to catch two half-kilogram bershiki and a similar zander when the current noticeably intensified. I was not at all prepared for such a turn of events - all jigs that were anyhow heavy were at home. The maximum that I could find in the box was a medium-sized “Uralochka”. It didn't drag very strongly, so I continued fishing in the same hole. However, the bite has already ended: all the spiny-fanged comrades have disappeared somewhere, literally.

So I sat until lunch without seeing a bite. And after lunch, the current intensified even more - and my “Ural” began to be seriously dragged away. But I couldn’t leave the river because of this, so I started handing over the fishing line, trying to find the bottom with a jig. I groped it. Then it “ran away” again. I continued to feed the line further. So, periodically tapping on the bottom, I managed to drive the jig 15 - 20 meters from my hole. In fact, it turned out that I was fishing with a non-standard jig “step” - however, exactly the opposite: I did not reel in, but handed over the line.

The first bite took place at the moment when the jig was about ten meters away from me. I took out a good bait and continued fishing with the “step”. Then things got even more interesting. Sopa and silver bream began to peck throughout the entire area from five to ten meters from my hole! There were about two dozen other fishermen sitting around me. Seeing that I was carrying fish, they began to move towards me. They drilled from all sides. When one began to drill downstream from me, I immediately reeled in the tackle and moved to another place - so as not to cross the jig with that fisherman. He drilled in another place - and again began to pull the sops one after another. I was drilled again. I moved again. Soon they stopped drilling - because they realized that it was useless: I was biting, but the others were not. That day I came across a lot of sop...

On subsequent fishing trips, I consolidated my success in drift fishing with active play. By the way, it is important in this method of fishing to arrange the tackle well, from the bait to the fishing rod. And it’s better to do this before fishing, at home, in a calm environment - hastily assembled gear rarely turns out to be successful.

The main thing for a fishing rod is a sufficiently capacious reel on which you can wind 50 - 70 m of 0.2 mm fishing line. The reel must be open, not like a balalaika, so that the fishing line is always in sight. It is the open reel that allows you to control the formation of loops (“beards”), which can lead to line breakage. Also, the reel should be adjusted so that it can quickly, efficiently and without nerves hand over and reel in the fishing line.

Usually the fishing line is taken with a diameter of 0.12 - 0.15 mm. In some cases, when bream and pike perch begin to bite, you have to turn to a fishing line with a diameter of 0.18 mm or more. At depth, the fish should not feel rough tackle, so the use of thick fishing line to achieve the goal is justified.

A jig for depth and current, like on the Sura, needs to be of such a size and weight that, if necessary, it can reach the bottom - and at the same time have a little sail so that we can drive it to some distance from the hole.

On the very last ice fishing trips of that season, I managed to catch bream on the Sura in the same way. Some monsters simply tore off the fishing line in a strong current, others, which I miraculously managed to get to the hole, went away when I tried to squeeze them into the narrow throat of the hole. But a few broad-bodied ones still caught my catch.

Pike perch and bersh

Fishermen have a saying: “Where there is bream, there is pike perch.” I’ll say more - where there is bream and sop, there is pike perch with bersh. For pike perch, bream, and even more so bersha, is clearly not a prey, and a small-sized sopa may well be suitable for pike perch as good prey.

When the fish begins to move closer to spring, it moves from more deep places, where she survived the winter, to smaller places. There you can actively feed and gain strength for the upcoming spawning. So the silver bream, sop and bream come out of their holes. Pike perch with bersh also follow them. Moreover, pike perch usually walks along the edge of the main school of silver bream.

Sopa, although sometimes a victim, nevertheless does not stop feeding - and often after several fish you pull out a respectable pike perch. It is typical that the larger the average fish from the flock, the larger the pike perch. A flock of small, 50 - 60 g, pike perch is usually grazed by medium-sized pike perch, up to a kilogram; a more substantial fish is accompanied by a correspondingly larger pike perch. Although this is not an indicator: it often happens to catch sopa and pike perch weighing the same in the same hole, and here there can be no question that the pike perch is chasing the sopa in order to eat it. Maybe they just have a friendly relationship?

Sometimes, if you find yourself on the edge of a school of sop, there are no less zander bites than sop bites.

On Sura, on some days the current is stronger, on others it is weaker. After several years of fishing in these places, I got the impression that predators make absolutely no difference whether there is a current or not - they almost always take the same, only the fishing places and methods differ. On days with weak currents, I prefer to fish with balance beams from the deepest edges. Under the bridge over the Sura on the Cheboksary-Moscow highway, I have a couple of pits in mind, in which there are always pike perch and bersh. I haven’t come across particularly large specimens here, but the standard ones for the river - 400 - 800 grams - bite constantly. From time to time you come across “tails” of up to two kilos. Larger specimens in winter time Rarely do they bite.

On days when the current is stronger, pike perch can stay in slightly different places. So, one day, I looked for a predator for a very long time, and eventually found it at the entrance to the bay, where the current died down a little and the water began to swirl. It was here that I managed to find a concentration of predators. Among the standard “soup set” of 400 - 700 g, there were a couple of pieces of just over a kilogram. The baits that worked were standard pike-perch spinners, long, narrow and quite light, but the pike-perch did not react to the balancers at all.

It should be noted that the local pike perch and bersh are very extraordinary. The main place where I catch these predators in winter is the area under the previously mentioned bridge. There are quite a lot of pike perch and bersh there, and they are taken even if you don’t really count on them - you get caught with jigs intended for sop and with pike girders. But in the summer, fanged-striped fish practically do not react in any way to spinning baits. I specially came in spring, summer and autumn to these same places, diligently jigged, and twitched at dusk, but to no avail. Pike - yes, asp - yes, pike perch and bersh - no. Despite the fact that they were often caught on donks here, and in other places along the Sura, pike perch and bersh react positively to spinning baits, but not under the bridge. This still remains a mystery to me.

Roach

On the Sura, when you fish on the main current for a very long time, it begins to seem that there is no one here at all except the sopa and the zander with the bersh. But the river is also full of other fish - for example, roach. In the summer it comes across here very regularly, but in the winter it doesn’t happen everywhere. My most successful roach fishing was closer to the last ice. At this time, sorog, as it is called here, is good to catch in the bays and at the exits from them.

Snagged areas are especially interesting in terms of roach fishing. The specimens found here are much larger. In the snags we should feed a little in order to lure the object of our desire out of the very thick of the snags. It is necessary to feed on a relatively clean bottom so that, under the influence of the current, the bait is carried onto the snags.

In such places I use fishing line with a diameter of 0.12 - 0.18 mm. It is relatively thick, but you should not be afraid of this, because the fish bite mainly large ones, from 250 - 300 g and above. Moreover, this “higher” means that the roach here can “fly” significantly more than a kilogram. Such a monster will not miss the opportunity to dive deeper into the snags - and in order to stop it you will need such a thick fishing line.

Jigs are suitable for any shape, and the weight is selected experimentally - the main thing is that the bait does not get pulled into snags. I prefer to fish “on the stand”, so as not to get caught again. The nod should be chosen softer. And the main thing is that it detects the bite “on the rise”. In no case should you put more than one hook or jig on the rig: while fishing, a large roach, which likes to walk in circles, will definitely hook the extra hook onto a snag - and then a run-off will be inevitable.

The best time for catching roach on the Sura is March, during a long spring, and April. At this time, the safest ice is in bays and places with weak currents. Roaches also have a complex character, and a good bite does not happen all the time. But this is not a reason to turn down the gear. If the sorog stands still, then it is quite possible to stir it up using different methods. You also need to be able to find a local cluster in a specific place.

…One day the fishing didn’t go well from the very beginning. On the first ten runs - although it was for roach, it was very small - 30 - 50 grams each. Previously, here we always came across larger ones. True, I was fishing in a slightly different place, where now someone had inopportunely placed their fishing rods. And under these girders there are small ridges in which better fish are hiding.

With each new hole, I get closer and closer to the girders - everywhere the 30-gram “laurel” (small roach, as well as silver bream, sopeshka, white bream - ed.) pesters me. But then the bottom began to become lumpy - already very close to the arranged gear, it was possible to hook a small bottom strip. And then larger tracks began to appear. Even if it’s only 150 - 200 g, the bites are good and there are a lot of them. I drill around the perimeter of this area and catch a more or less decent sorog.

After another indistinct bite, I feel the tremors of a very decent fish. My fishing line is 0.06 mm, a jig with a swallow hook. I swing the fish back and forth - and after long minutes I pull the roach onto the ice. These don't come here very often - they contain about half a kilogram. I drill the area lengthwise and crosswise, darkening the holes. But the large fish no longer bite - everything is 100 - 200 g. And then in the next hole - a good bite! This fish feels an order of magnitude larger than the previous monster. Up and down, up and down, a jerk - and an unfortunate cliff. The fish are completely leaving the area, and I don’t have time anymore.

ASP ON SUR

FISHING ON SUR

"Non-core" fish

The species composition of the inhabitants of Sura is not limited to sop, bream, roach, pike perch and bersh. There are also perch and pike here, but on the last ice they are caught worse in the places I know. On the first ice - yes, sometimes there is no end to the pike, but in March the bite is inconsistent.

In March, perch periodically comes out to roach areas, into bays, and sometimes they are caught on the main current. It reacts very well to unbaited “goats” and “devils”, but it is not advisable to specifically run and look for it using a spoon in the main current, far from its favorite bays.

Pike are also rarely found on the main current. In the areas where I fish, my neighboring fishermen constantly put out their fishing rods, but in all the time I have seen literally several catches. For pike, it’s better to go to the famous Belavka, which, by the way, is very close to the famous Sursky Bridge.

Night fishing on the Sura River

The summer of 2010 turned out to be unusually hot, with scorching heat accompanied by a long drought. The air temperature during the day often exceeded forty degrees, and the night did not bring the desired coolness. It is not surprising that at the end of the working day, in search of coolness, people gravitated to bodies of water. The fairly shallow banks of rivers and lakes (there hasn’t been a single major rain in two months) are filled to capacity with vacationers, so it seemed that there was nowhere for an apple to fall. In the evenings, clouds often thickened in the sky, giving hope for the end of the stuffiness to all living things. But apart from a bright light and noise performance and a little rain that couldn’t even “knock down the dust,” there was no effect. By mid-August, the land, which had been under the yoke of such harsh weather, was covered with cracks, and the meadows and forests were painted in the shades of golden autumn. So on one of these evenings I went fishing. Having reached the river, he settled down on a bank convenient for fishing and distant from noisy companies. I immediately pre-fed promising places for fishing. Having “thrown” the bottom tackle closer to the middle of the river, and the float rod to the reed thickets, I wait for bites. Evening dawn, the setting sun is hidden behind the crowns of trees and rays of light make their way to the surface of the water less and less, getting stuck in the reed thickets along the way. A thundercloud clearly looms in the sky, darkened by the sunset.

The thought “this is not for us” flashed through my head.

The bell rang timidly, then more insistently, there was a hook. The carpenter coveted a large grain of corn. A START! The float slid through the water and became completely submerged. The crucian carp was caught on pearl barley. It's getting dark. I attach a “firefly” to the gear. Meanwhile, the cloud is growing in size and getting closer.

And again the thought flashed: “no, not to us.”

The bait started working. True, the fish that were caught on the hook did not make any decent catch. The bright moon has risen and in its light the cloud looks increasingly threatening. There was a chill. Rare drops left hope

“maybe not to us.”

Having warmed up, I continue to monitor the gear. It bites. The wind gradually increases, bringing with it rain that turns into downpour. There was no trace of doubt left.

"to us".

The raincoat helped avoid getting wet. The downpour subsided, clouds covered the entire sky, and pitch darkness reigned. At times the rain stopped altogether. At such moments, you could hear tree branches cracking under the pressure of the wind. The bite evaporated, only the worm was sometimes caught with ruffs. Closer to dawn, the bite for the donkey resumed. The carp almost pulled the rod into the water. Everything happened in one second. The powerful bite caused the fishing rod to jump on the stand, and the bell suspended on the tip of the rod began to ring as it rang.

Having made the hook and felt something weighty at the other end of the line, I began to move along the shore so as not to give the fish a chance to hide in the reeds. In complete darkness on the bank, muddy from the rain, I slipped and fell. I fell on the rod, breaking the reel, and had to pull the line out by hand. Having brought the fish to the shore and lifted it on a fishing line from the water, the fish jumped off the hook. But she couldn't leave.

Bottom line

2 carp - 1 kg each. Donka corn

8 roach - small pearl barley

2 ruff - float worm

1 bream float worm

AND A SEA OF IMPRESSIONS!!!

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:

Team Nomads.

Valery Timofeev.

http://www.skitalets.ru/books/

http://www.textual.ru/gvr/

WIKIPEDIA

http://www.intat.ru/land/tatar/

http://www.airfotovideo.ru/photos/

http://www.photosight.ru/

http://www.russia-da.ru/

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kirs-andrej/

http://penzagard.ru/sura.html

http://fisher-pnz.ru/

http://clubs.ya.ru/russia/

http://www.sfish.ru/index.php

The Sura River is the second largest right tributary of the Volga. Linguists believe that its name comes from the ancient Volga language, which today no longer has speakers. The length of the river is 841 km. It flows through the Ulyanovsk, Penza and Nizhny Novgorod regions, as well as through the territory of Mordovia, Chuvashia and the Mari El Republic. Its picturesque shores - favorite place recreation for tourists. Pike perch, carp and pike spawn in the quiet backwaters of Sura. Fishermen here catch catfish, asp, perch, saberfish and crucian carp, and in former times the river was inhabited by Sursky sterlet.

In the 18th century, timber was rafted along the Sura and various goods were transported (mainly bread, alcohol, hemp oil, potash) from Penza to Vasilsursk. Since the end of the 17th century, flat-bottomed ships and small semi-barks were manufactured in the forest dachas of the villages of Chaadaevka, Pavlo-Kurakino and Truevo. In Penza itself, since 1801, the so-called suryaks began to be built. The length of these ships reached 60 fathoms, the carrying capacity was 25 thousand pounds. Suryaks were loaded with goods, and they moved with the flow on their own. During the Great Patriotic War, timber was floated along the Sura to heat children's institutions and hospitals.

TO THE VERY SOURCES

According to archival sources, at the end of the 19th century the Sura River originated near the village of Surskie Vershiny. It belonged to the Syzran district of the Simbirsk province, and today it is the Barysh district of the Ulyanovsk region. Then the source of the Sura were two streams, which, merging together, formed a small river flowing through the lands of this village. In the area of ​​the Timoshkinskaya forest dacha, Kramola and several small streams flowed into it. At this point the Sura became a full-fledged high-water river.

Nowadays, the old source has practically ceased to exist due to deforestation of the surrounding forests. In addition, the construction of a dam in these places led to siltation of the springs that fed the Sura. Its source is now considered to be another river flowing from a swampy forest nearby.

The characteristic features of the Sura are a fairly fast current for a flat river, a winding bed and high steep banks. This is explained by the significant slope of the bed towards the Volga. In the upper section, the current speed is approximately 0.7-0.8 m/s. Here the river flows almost from east to west, and then makes a sharp turn and heads northeast. The largest tributaries in this area are the left ones: Truev, Kadada, Uza.

The Sura flows through the territory of the Volga Forest-Steppe Nature Reserve for only 10.7 km - in the largest of the five sections, which is called the “Upper Reaches of the Sura”. Here's the main one water artery The Penza Territory is quite small, it is just beginning to gain strength, and this gives the reserve exceptional water conservation significance.

The “Upper Reaches of the Sura” became part of the reserve in 1991. The area of ​​the site is 6334 hectares, and it is located at an altitude of 293 m, on a spur of the Volga Upland, known as the Surskaya Shishka. To the west of the site is the village of Chasy, and to the south is Tikhmenevo. The terrain of the area is hilly, with clearly visible river valleys and streams.

RESERVED WATERS

The forest streams Rucheleika, Chernaya Rechka and Trasov Ruchei flow through the reserve, fast and winding. The total length of forest streams is about 30 km. They feed mainly on melted snow and to a small extent groundwater. Their channels are winding and the current is quite fast. Most streams originate in ravines and ravines with springs. There are also swamps here, mostly of a transitional type. Their total area is 42.6 hectares. These swamps form mainly on watersheds, as well as in floodplains and river valleys. In the very center of the site is Lake Svetloe of suffusion origin. Its banks are swampy, and on the eastern side they are surrounded by rafts with willow bushes and sphagnum.

FORESTS: ANCIENT AND MODERN

In the “Upper Reaches of the Sura” there are 19 species of trees and 28 species of shrubs. The main value is old-growth (up to 300 years) areas of pine and oak forests. However, most of the territory is occupied by derivative forests: birch forests with an admixture of aspen, linden, poplar and pine or aspen forests. This is the composition of the upper tier.

In the undergrowth there are common mountain ash, Tatarian maple, common viburnum, brittle buckthorn, laxative, apple tree, warty euonymus, etc.

In the floodplains of rivers and streams, bird cherry and various types of willows grow in damp wetlands. In the same places there are completely impenetrable alder forests. Due to the swampy soil, the trees rise up on powerful roots. When it is a whole group with a common foundation, strange alder islands appear among the swamp. In birch forests in low damp areas there is a continuous and very dense grass cover. Omsk sedge, graying reed grass, blue molinia, turf pike, medicinal burnet, and female kochedednik also grow here.

A unique place in this section of the reserve is the juniper grove.

COASTAL RESIDENTS

Numerous inhabitants of the upper reaches of the Sura are sharp-faced frogs. They are interesting because in the spring, during the mating season, the males acquire a bright blue color. Often found sand lizard and an ordinary one. It is distinguished from the viper by orange or yellow spots behind the head. In the “Upper Reaches of the Sura” the European bank vole and wood mouse are numerous. There are even wolves, lynxes, roe deer and wild boars here.

Up to 30 moose also winter in the upper reaches of the Sura. They often damage young trees by biting off their branches. True taiga species nest here: capercaillie, deaf cuckoo and three-toed woodpecker. Grouse and hazel grouse are common, and waders such as woodcock and snipe are also found.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW

Splavina, or swell, is one of the stages of overgrowing of a reservoir from the surface. It consists of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants: reeds, cattails, watchworts and green mosses. As the raft grows, pieces of peat and plant remains, completely or partially rotted, come off from its lower surface. Thus, a thick layer of semi-liquid silt appears at the bottom, gradually filling the entire reservoir. As a result, a swamp develops in its place.