Western Dvina characteristics. Western Dvina River

Western Dvina Ditch with river water Dvinsk (Daugavpils). The key importance of a particular settlement can often be judged by the presence of an old fortress in it or its immediate vicinity. The Dvina Fortress began to be built in early XIX centuries and preserved

The Western Dvina River (Belarusian: Zahodnyaya Dzvina, Dzvina, in Latvia - Daugava, Latvian: Daugava) belongs to the category of the great rivers of Europe. It flows through the territory of Russia (325 km), Belarus (328 km) and Latvia (367 km). The total length is 1020 km, the basin area is 87.9 thousand sq. km.

Got to the root

The source of the Western Dvina was finally found only in the 1970s. expedition of the magazine "Tourist" under the leadership of A.S. Popova.

Historical reference

The source of the Western Dvina is located in the Pyanishnik swamp on the Valdai Upland, near the Main European watershed separating the Baltic and Caspian slopes of the drainage, in the Penovsky district of the Tver region. It enters Lake Dvinets (Koryakino) as a stream and leaves it as a river several meters wide. After a few kilometers it flows into the flowing Lake Okhvat and, receiving the Volkota and Netesma tributaries, becomes a full-flowing river. The Western Dvina flows into the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea.

The width of the Western Dvina behind Lake Okhvat is 15-20 m, the width of its valley in the upper reaches is up to 0.9 km. In the section of the river between the cities of Andreapol and the Western Dvina, the width of the river increases to 50 m. Below the city of the Western Dvina, having overcome the rapids, the river reaches within the Western Dvina region major tributaries: Veles (left), Torop (right) and Mezha (left), after which it expands to 100 m. Beyond the mouth of Mezha, the Western Dvina leaves the Tver region.

Throughout history, the Western Dvina River had up to 14 names: Dina, Vina, Tanair, Turun, Rodan, Dune, Eridan, Western Dvina and others. The name "Dvina" was first mentioned by the monk-chronicler Nestor in beginning of XII V. in the chronicle “The Passage of Bygone Years.” At the beginning of the chronicle, he writes: “The Dnieper flowed from the Volkovsky forest and flowed at noon, and the Dvina from the same forest flowed at midnight and entered the Varangian Sea...” The etymology of the name Dvina (Latvian: Daugava ‘much water’) has not been definitively established. Some researchers consider the Finnish-language name to be primary, elevating it to “quiet, calm”, others attribute it to the Indo-European languages ​​with the meaning “river”, bringing it closer to the hydronyms Don, Dnieper, Dniester, Danube. In ancient times, a section of the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed through the Upper and Middle Podvina.

The Western Dvina is attractive for fishing. It contains pike, perch, pike perch, catfish, chub, asp, burbot, ide, tench, dace, rudd, roach, bream, silver bream, bleak, crucian carp. This section of the Western Dvina flow is extremely attractive for water tourism. It is very picturesque, full of small rifts, rifts and rapids, but is not difficult for kayaking and is ideal for novice water tourists and family groups. There are many convenient parking places on the banks of the river.

How to get there

Above the city of Western Dvina, the river is crossed by the Moscow - Riga M9 highway. There are approaches to the shores every few kilometers, with the exception of the section between the mouths of the Toropa and Mezha, where there are few of them. In the Upper Podvina basin within the Western Dvina region - on the banks of its tributaries and lake shores - there are many wonderful places for recreation and active types of tourism.

The Western Dvina River flows through three countries - Belarus, Russia (Tver and Smolensk regions), Latvia, covering the territory (in the west) of the East European Plain.

The route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed along this river. The Western Dvina Valley arose around 13-12 thousand years BC.

Source

Characteristics

• The length of the Western Dvina River is more than 1,020 km
• basin area 87.9 thousand km 2
• The width of the river in Belarus is 300 meters, and in Russia the channel widens to 800 meters, the river valley - up to 6 km
• climate - temperate
• The river's feeding regime is mixed, mainly snow and soil
• average annual precipitation 550-650mm

Western Dvina River on the map

River mode

The current is tortuous. At the very bottom, the Western Dvina is divided into several branches. The water flow is more than 670 square meters per second. The direction of the current changes from east to west, forming an arc. And then it turns south, taking a slightly curved direction.

At first the river flows like a small stream, and then near Vitebsk the width gradually becomes larger and reaches almost 100 meters. During periods of spring floods, the width of the river is 1.5 kilometers, so the Western Dvina floods many valleys located near the banks.

Polotsk Western Dvina River photo

Power comes from snow, spring floods, rain and groundwater. The current is fast, especially in warm weather; in winter and autumn it slows down somewhat.

Plants and fish

The banks are covered with deciduous and mixed forests, pine forests, between which there are agricultural lands and fields. The plains, which are often found in the Smolensk region, contain large wetlands. The dominant trees are alder, aspen, birch and pine.

There are few representatives of ichthyofauna in the waters of the river, since it is shallow, so ordinary river fish species are found. Most of them then go to the Baltic Sea. These are dace, pike perch, catfish, bleak, perch, roach, ide, ruff, etc.

Cities

The biggest settlements are Polotsk, Disna, Vitebsk, Riga, Ogre, Ikskile, Kraslava, etc.

Vitebsk Western Dvina river photo

Tributaries

They are found throughout the river basin, the largest of which are:

• Ushacha;
• Kasplya;
• Drissa;
• Mezha.

In general, all tributaries are not deep and do not represent any special economic interest. Mezha is the largest tributary, the length of which is 259 kilometers, and it also begins to flow from the Valdai Hills. Veles also comes from there, the length of which is 114 kilometers.

Western Dvina river photo

Tourism on the river

The river is the center fishing, kayaking and rafting. In addition, there are recreation centers along the banks, so summer period you can relax on the river, swim in it, wander through picturesque places.

• The settlement of the territory near the Western Dvina began in the Mesolithic, i.e. between 10-6 millennia BC
• At the very mouth of the river there is a sunstone - amber.
• In different historical periods the river was called differently - Dune, Dina, Vina, Tanair. But already as the Dvina it is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. The ancient Balts called the river Daugava - a lot of water.

In the north of Eastern Europe, in Tverskaya and Smolensk regions Russia, as well as in Belarus and Latvia.

The name comes from ancient Balt. “daug” – “many”, “abundantly” and “ava” – “water”.

The first mention of the Western Dvina is found in the chronicle of a monk. In ancient times, the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed along this river.

The Western Dvina originates on the Valdai Hills and flows into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea called Daugava. The length of the river is 1020 km (of which 325 km, or 31.8%, is in Russia), the basin area is 84.4 thousand km 2 (42.2%). In terms of basin area, the Western Dvina ranks 2nd among the rivers of the Smolensk (after the Dnieper) and Tver (after the Volga) regions and 24th in Russia.

The relief of the Western Dvina basin is characterized by an alternation of relatively large hills and lowlands. The river basin is located in an area of ​​excess moisture. The annual precipitation is 550−750 mm. On the western slopes of ridges and hills, the amount of precipitation increases to 800−900 mm. Pine and spruce-broad-leaved forests, young birch and aspen forests are common. main feature landscapes of the catchment area - a dense river network (up to 0.45 km/km 2), an abundance of lakes and swamps. The main tributaries: Usvyacha, Toropa, Obol, Drissa, Dubna, Aiviekste, Perse, Ogre (right), Veles, Mezha, Kasplya, Luchesa, Ulla, Disna (left). The lakes are mostly small and of glacial origin.

In its upper reaches, the Western Dvina is a small watercourse with a general direction to the south and then to the north. This is a lacustrine river crossing flowing lakes. Dvinets and Okhvat-Zhadanie. Below the lakes, the river bed widens to 15 m, flows in a relatively deep valley with steep banks on a section of the river 150 km long from the source. In areas where flowing lakes are located. Luka and Kalakutskoye, the Western Dvina valley expands to 3–4 km, in some places up to 10–15 km. Below the lakes, the valley and river bed widen. The height of the floodplain terrace is 7–8 m above the low water level. There is no floodplain. In the moderately meandering, weakly branched river bed there are many rifts formed by accumulations of boulder material, and thresholds in the zones of exposure of bedrock (dolomite) outcrops by the flow.

The average long-term water flow near Vitebsk (Belarus) is 221 m 3 /s (about 6.97 km 3 /year), at the mouth - 678 m 3 /s (about 21.398 km 3 /year). The Western Dvina has a mixed supply: the share of snow supply is 46% of the annual water flow, underground - 36%, rainfall - 18%. According to its water regime, the river belongs to the Eastern European type, which is characterized by high spring floods, low summer low water with frequent rain floods and stable winter low water. For a period of spring flood accounts for 56% of the annual runoff, summer-spring and winter low water – 33 and 11%, respectively. In some years, there are floods caused by thaws. The Western Dvina freezes in the first ten days of December. Freeze-up lasts from December to March. The maximum ice thickness (50–80 cm) forms in February–March. The river opens up in the first ten days of April. Spring ice drift lasts for several days. average temperature water in June–August is 18.7–19.2°C.

The waters of the Western Dvina are used for water supply and wastewater disposal. Below Velizh the river is navigable in some sections. Upstream the river bed is used for rafting. The river is inhabited by pike perch, perch, roach, bream, golden carp, bleak, silver bream, and pike.

On the banks of the Western Dvina there are the Russian cities of Andreapol, Western Dvina, Velizh.

N.I. Alekseevsky