The largest river in Donbass, the Donets Seversky, has received all sorts of names from visiting travelers throughout its long history. And, in general, not bad names, but how can a primordially Slavic river flowing past the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra be called Donel, Tanais or Sirgis? It flowed from the Seversk land, was a tributary of the Don, what should it be called if not the Donets Seversky?
The largest right tributary of the Don
The largest river in eastern Ukraine originates on the Central Russian Upland, in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, near the village of Podolkhi. The most interesting thing is that it flows into the Don River, also on the territory of the Russian Federation, but already in the Rostov region. The total length of the river is 1053 kilometers (area - 98,900 sq. km), of which only a third is located in Russia - 330 km, the rest (middle) part of the river flows through three regions of eastern Ukraine: Kharkov, Donetsk and Luhansk - and is the fourth largest river in this country. For the east of Ukrainethe role of this water artery can hardly be overestimated, because it is the main source of fresh water in this region.
Some geographic data
The entire basin of the Donets Seversky River is very large and almost equal to the Rhine basin, but twice as small as the volume of water. There are no more than 1000 rivers directly flowing into the Seversky Donets. And in total, according to many, significantly different data, there are about 2500-3000 rivers in its basin. The largest of them, such as the Treasury Butt, Bakhmutka, Oskol, Aidar, Lugan, have a length of more than 10 kilometers. The river itself, in turn, is the largest tributary of the Don and flows into it 218 kilometers from the mouth. The width of the river ranges from 30 to 70 meters, along the entire length there are reservoirs, in the area of which the Donets spills up to 4 km. The depth varies from 10 m in the reaches (the deepest section, usually located on the concave part of the bend, or meander) to 0.3 m in shallow water. This water artery is flat, shallow, winters are severe. And so the Seversky Donets River freezes for 2-3 months during the cold season. The thickness of the ice is 30-50 cm. “As the ice sang in the frost on the Seversky Donets,” this is how one song sings. But it does not freeze everywhere, and in many places the ice is thin, so underwater fishing enthusiasts need to be very careful.
Features of the channel
Due to the lack of mountains for a long distance, the river has a wide valley: in the upper reaches 8-10 km, in the lower reaches its dimensions reach 20-26 kilometers. However, the banks in most cases differ in level - they are asymmetric. One bank, right, high, in placesrocky, and in some places consists of their chalk rocks, as in Svyatogorsk.
The opposite (left) bank is flat. On it there is a floodplain with numerous lakes, channels of dried up rivers (oxbow lakes), wetlands. There are large lakes, for example, Liman. The river is winding and diverse: along its entire length there are rapids and rifts, rapids and blockages. All this is more common in the upper reaches and the central part. Water resources are replenished mainly due to natural precipitation - rains and snowmelt.
River of life for the industrial east of Ukraine
As on any river that flows through industrial areas and serves as a source of drinking water for the population (Seversky Donets provides it only on the territory of Ukraine to three large industrial cities - Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk), dams have been built here and reservoirs have been created. In the upper reaches, up to the Russian city of Belgorod, there are several of them, but not very large ones. Downstream, the Volchya River flows into the Donets Seversky, and immediately behind it is the Pechenegskoye Reservoir. It is intended for the needs of the city of Kharkov.
The tributaries and channels that give life to the river, and the causes that kill it
Donetsk coal basin receives the necessary water thanks to the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal, which was built much further downstream. In front of it, the Donets receives the waters of the Uda and Oskol rivers (its largest tributary). Right there, in the middle of its course, it receives water from the Dnieper (Dnieper-Donbass canal). Total on the territory of Donetsk regionabout 148 reservoirs were built for the needs of various enterprises.
This suggests that the industrial potential of the region is very high, and the climate here is arid. Therefore, the role of the Seversky Donets cannot be overestimated, and the concerns of environmentalists and simply not indifferent people who are sounding the alarm about the death of the river are understandable. The reasons for this tragedy are different. In addition to the traditional deforestation and the approach of arable land directly to the shores, the huge water intake for industrial needs and its return in smaller quantities, and even in a warmer state, exotic algae appeared. Pistia, or water lettuce, flooded the river in just two years.
Calm and wide river in the lower reaches
In the area of the capital of Donbass and further, in the Rostov region, the Seversky Donets crosses the Donetsk Ridge. It is clear that there are practically no valleys here, and the coasts are steep and rocky. And already closer to the mouth, where the Seversky Donets is divided into three branches, for 200 km the river is blocked by many locks. Naturally, the current here is slow, the width varies from 100 to 200 meters. From here the river becomes navigable.
Fishermen's paradise
Despite the problems, fishing on the Seversky Donets was famous at all times, in
which has 41 species of fish. Of course, both pollution and tropical aliens destroying the natural environment for the restoration of fish stocks have significantly reduced the number of valuable fish species that have lived here for centuries. But of the large and medium ones, there are stillhere and pike, and pike perch, and catfish, and bream. But the Seversky Donets is especially rich in small species, such as rudd, perch, and roach. Fishing on this river is also good because, due to the different widths (from 30 to 200 meters) of the channel, you can engage in various types of fishing here and test fishing equipment and skills.
Cherished places
The surroundings of Svyatogorsk, which A. P. Chekhov called Donetsk Switzerland, enjoy special honor and respect among fishing enthusiasts. And the point is not even in the peculiar beauty of the surroundings, and not in the fact that there are “holy, praying places” (Artemevsky Skete). The point is in an integrated approach: the fishing is excellent, and the places are beautiful, and the entrance is incredibly convenient (nearby, a few kilometers away, there is the Rostov-Kharkov-Donetsk highway).
Popular places are known and usually busy. But the river is good because you can always find a section of the coast to your liking. The abundance of residential villages located along the water will allow you to leave the car in a paid parking lot. It is in the area of Svyatogorsk that you can catch representatives of almost all types of fish that are found in the Seversky Donets, and even asp. The specimens are so large that it is impossible to lift them when fishing from the bridge.
Both winter and summer…
Best fishing in summer, but ice fishing is also good, you just have to remember that the river does not freeze completely and in some places the winter cover is thin, but perch fishing in these places is very good after the first frost. All along the river there are surprisingly many places for "quiethunting": Raisin, Savintsy (chub is caught here). But near some industrial cities, or rather, a little downstream, it is not safe to fish, because harmful production waste is thrown into the river.
River and forest - what could be better for relaxation?
Most residents of the five regions through which the river flows do not wonder where to take their holidays or Sunday rest. The Seversky Donets, its picturesque shores, the mixed forest that comes right to the water, the clean he althy air - everything has always been conducive to the construction of recreation centers and sanatoriums.
It can be argued that almost every serious enterprise of any of the five regional centers: Russian Belgorod and Rostov-on-Don, Ukrainian Kharkov, Donetsk and Lugansk - has a recreation center, a children's camp or a dispensary on the banks of the Seversky Donets. These beautiful places were visited by poets and artists. Chekhov and Tyutchev, Tsvetaeva and Bunin, Nemirovich-Danchenko and Repin have been here. Perhaps one of them called these beauties Pridontsovye.
Pearl of the Donts region
And, of course, the same Svyatogorsk is the treasury of these places. In its vicinity is the Holy Dormition Lavra, one of the most beautiful Orthodox monasteries. A very beautiful bridge across the Seversky Donets leads to it from Svyatogorsk itself. It sells souvenirs made from local pine trees with drawings of the main attraction - Lavra, and musicians perform. The Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra itself is the most important object of the National Natural Park "Holy Mountains", createdin 1997. It is unique, because on its territory there are such relic trees as, for example, Cretaceous pine from the pre-glacial period, 129 archaeological sites dating back to the time period from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, there are 73 historical monuments here. National Park "Holy Mountains" and all its territories and facilities are under state protection.
Seversky Donets on the map
The Seversky Donets River is very diverse. The map on which she was depicted for the first time under the name Sewerski was published by the cartographer G. Mercator in 1595. On the map of 1154 by the Arab geographer Idrisi (1099-1165), it is also marked, but under the name Rusiya.
The word "Donets" is present in many names: Donetsk, for example, or Donetsk Seimytsya (a tributary of the Seim). There are only five rivers, the names of which include this word, but not one of them is called only by him. The name must contain a quality adjective. In addition to Seversky, these are Lipovy, Sazhnoy, Dry and Dead Donets.
Extraordinarily picturesque
A lot has been said about the beauty of the described river, but, as they say, it is better to see it once, at least in pictures that capture the Seversky Donets River from source to mouth. The photos presented in the article do not embellish reality at all. There are indeed beautiful green islands on the river, and the trees growing along the banks come in more bizarre shapes.
