Everything about The Vistula totally explained
The
Vistula (; ; ), is the longest
river in
Poland at 1,047 km (678 miles) in length. It drains an area of 194,424 km² (75,067 sq. miles), of which 168,699 km² (65,135 sq. miles) lies within Poland (over half the area of the country) .
The Vistula has its source in the south of the country, at
Barania Góra (1220 m high) in the
Beskidy Mountains where it starts with the White Little Vistula (
Biała Wisełka) and the Black Little Vistula (
Czarna Wisełka). It then continues to flow over the vast Polish plains, passing several large Polish cities along its way, including
Cracow,
Sandomierz,
Warsaw,
Płock,
Włocławek,
Toruń,
Bydgoszcz,
Świecie,
Grudziądz,
Tczew and
Gdańsk. With a
delta and several branches (
Leniwka,
Przekop,
Śmiała Wisła,
Martwa Wisła,
Nogat and
Szkarpawa) it empties into the
Vistula Lagoon, or directly into the
Gdańsk Bay of the
Baltic Sea.
History
It isn't known whether the root of the name
Vistula is
Indo-European or
pre-Indo-European. The
diminutive endings -ila, -ula, were used in many Indo-European language groups, among them Germanic (see
Atilla, a "little father" in
Gothic) but also in Latin (see
Ursula, a "little female bear") which makes it difficult to establish its origin in the Vistula name. The name was first recorded by
Pliny in AD
77 in his
Natural History. He uses Vistula (4.52, 4.89) with an alternative spelling, Vistillus (3.06). The Vistula River ran into the
Mare Suebicum, which we know as the
Baltic Sea. From all the sources one can deduce that west of the delta lived the tribes of the
Suebi and
Burgundians, and around the delta itself the Eastern Germanic tribe of
Goths (see also
Gothiscandza,
Wielbark culture) and their predecessors, the
Oksywie culture. East of the Vistula mouth were the areas inhabited by the
Baltic speaking tribes generally identified with the historical
Aestians:
Galindians,
Sudovians and
Borusci.
However, Tacitus' knowledge of the different peoples was second-hand at best and its accuracy is recently sometimes questioned. He also used the term "Germans" for describing people that probably didn't speak
Germanic languages. For example when describing
Venethi,
Peucini and
Fenni he wrote that he wasn't sure if he should call them Germans, since they've settlements and they fight on foot, or rather
Sarmats since they've some similar customs to them.
Ptolemy also records the tribes around the Vistula River, which he regards as the border between Germany and
Sarmatia. He uses the Greek spelling, "Ouistoula". Other ancient sources spell it "Istula". Pomponius Mela refers to the "Visula" (Book 3) and Ammianus Marcellinus to the "Bisula" (Book 22), both of which names lack the -t-. The definitive reference is probably Jordanes (Getica 5 & 17), who uses "Viscla". The Anglo-Saxon poem
Widsith refers to it as the "Wistla".
The Vistula river used to be connected to the
Dnieper River, and thence to the
Black Sea. The Baltic Sea-Vistula-Dnieper-Black Sea water route was one of the most ancient trade-routes, the
Amber Road, on which amber and other items were traded from
Northern Europe to
Greece,
Asia,
Egypt, and elsewhere.
For centuries, the river was well-known in Germany and surrounding countries by the
German name
Weichsel (in medieval German documents spelled
Wissel,
Wixel etc.). The most recent glaciations of the Pleistocene epoch, which ended around 10,000 BCE, is called
Weichsel glaciation in regard to northern central Europe. Russians called Poland "Vistula province" during Tsarist rule in the 1800s.
Navigation
The Vistula is navigable, but large parts of its course don't meet the requirements of modern inland navigation. From the
Baltic Sea to
Bydgoszcz (where the
Bydgoszcz Canal connects to the river), Vistula can accommodate modest river vessels of
CEMT class II. Further upstream the river doesn't have enough depth to allow river barges to navigate.
Upstream of Warsaw, a project was undertaken to enlarge the capacity of the river by building a number of locks in Cracow area; this project was never prolonged further downstream, so that the navigability of the Vistula remains problematic. The potential of the river in the decades to come would increase considerably if a restoration of the East-West connection via the
Narew -
Bug -
Mukhovets -
Pripyat -
Dnieper waterways would be considered. The shifting economic importance parts of Europe may make this option interesting.
Towns and tributaries
Image:Wodospad Wiselka Biala.jpg|Biała Wisełka
Image:Wisla powodz 2004.jpg|Vistula flooding south of Warsaw, 2004
Image:Plock bridge.jpg|Bridge across the Vistula in Płock
Near
Kwidzyń Vistula is divided onto two separate branches that constitute the
river delta:
Right tributaries
Brennica - Skoczów
Iłownica
Biała - Czechowice-Dziedzice
Soła
Skawa - Zator
Skawinka - Skawina
Wilga - Kraków
Drwinka
Raba
Gróbka
Uszwica
Kisielina
Dunajec
Breń
Brnik
Wisłoka
Babulówka - Baranów Sandomierski
Trzesniówka - Sandomierz
Łęg - Sandomierz
San
Sanna - Annopol
Wyżnica - Józefów
Chodelka
Bystra - Kazimierz Dolny
Kurówka - Puławy
Wieprz - Deblin
Okrzejka
Promnik
Wilga - Wilga
Świder - Otwock, Józefow
Kanał Żerański - Warsaw
Narew - Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki
Mołtawa
Słupianka - Płock
Brzeźnica - Płock
Skrwa - Płock
Mień - Nieszawa
Drwęca - Toruń
Bacha - Toruń
Struga
Osa - Grudziądz
Liwa
Left tributaries
List of left tributaries with a nearby city
Krajka - Strumień
Pszczynka
Gostynia
Przemsza - Chełmek
Chech
Rudno
Sanka - Kraków
Rudawa - Kraków
Prądnik - Kraków
Dłubnia - Kraków
Roporek - Nowe Brzesko
Szreniawa
Nidzica
Nida - Nowy Korczyn
Strumień
Czarna - Połaniec
Koprzywianka - Sandomierz
Opatówka
Kamienna
Krępianka - Solec nad Wisłą
Iłżanka
Zwoleńka
Plewka - Janowiec
Zagożdzonka - Kozienice
Radomka
Pilica - Warka
Czarna - Góra Kalwaria
Jeziorka - Konstancin-Jeziorna
Bzura - Wyszogród
Skrwa - Płock
Zgłowiączka - Włocławek
Tążyna
Zielona
Brda - Bydgoszcz
Wda - Świecie
Wierzyca - Gniew
Motława - Gdańsk
Radunia - GdańskFurther Information
Get more info on 'Vistula'.
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