Neglinnaya river in the center of Moscow: description, origin of the name

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

The mysterious, invisible Neglinnaya River is the subject of myths and legends, a place of adventure and an object of research. The existence of the river is indicated by the names of streets and geographical objects, but very few people have seen it. A visitor may ask this question: "Where is the Neglinnaya River?". And mocking Muscovites can explain to him for a long time how to find it. But the life of the river was not always as sad as it is today. There were also happy free times in her biography.

Origin of the name

The river in the center of Moscow has changed several names over its long history: Neglimna, Neglinna, Samoteka. Neglinnaya river - the name, on the one hand, is very familiar and native, on the other hand, the word "neglinaya" sounds somehow inorganic for the Russian language. There are several conjectures about its meaning.

Version 1. There is an assumption that the toponym "Neglinnaya" comes from the word "Neglinok", meaning a small swamp with springs.

Version 2. G. P. Smolitskaya hypothesized that the name of the river comes from the phrase "notclay." The bed of the Neglinka is sandy and this is what the name indicates, according to the researcher. Many linguists say that such word formation is not typical for the Russian language and do not believe in this hypothesis.

Version 3. There is an assumption that the name comes from the word "megla", which was also pronounced as "negla", "negla" and meant "larch". The banks of the river in ancient times were covered with such trees, and the name of the river allegedly originated from here.

Version 4. Philologist V. V. Toporov, after analyzing the ancient languages, stated that the name comes from the phrase “not glim in” from the B altic dialect, meaning “shallow river.”

None of the versions found sufficient confirmation or refutation. The second name of the river - Samoteka has an easier explanation. It means a river that flows from somewhere, in this case from a pond, on its own.

Geographic location

Communication Moscow - Neglinka is very close. In ancient times, peoples always settled near water, choosing places between two rivers whenever possible. The Neglinnaya is the right tributary of the Moskva River, the confluence formed a very successful territory, protected on both sides by water, which has been inhabited by people since ancient times. The river originates in the Maryina Grove area, the old channel today can be identified by natural lowlands in the area of \u200b\u200bStreletskaya and Novosushchevskaya streets, as well as in the lanes adjacent to them. In the area of Streletsky Lane, the Neglinka merges with the Naprudnaya River. In total, the river had 17 tributaries. On the way of the Neglinka, several ponds are formed: Miussky, Suschevsky, Antropovy pits. They arefill the river, making it full-flowing. Further along its path, several artificial reservoirs were created, the largest of which is Nizhny Samotechny. In total, 10 ponds have been formed on it.

Modern Neglinka flows under Ekaterininsky and Samotechny Squares, under Samotechnaya, Trubnaya and Theater Squares, under Neglinnaya Street, along the Kremlin, where it flows into the Moscow River.

Start observations

For the first time the river Neglinka is mentioned in ancient Russian chronicles from the 14th century under the name Neglimna. The river was then an important transport and defensive resource. Goods were rafted along it, fish were caught in it, it served as a barrier against attacks on the Kremlin. Then the river flowed without any restrictions through the city and suburbs, giving names to streets, alleys and squares, providing the population with water. She carried her waters past the grand ducal settlement of Sushchevo, next to the grand ducal village of Naprudnoe. In those days, Moscow adjusted to the course of the Neglinka, bridges were built across it, it played an important role in the life of Muscovites.

Neglinka's life until the 17th century

In the 15th century, the inhabitants of Moscow began to transform the river to suit their needs. Part of it was enclosed in a stone pipe, so Trubnaya Square appeared on the map of the capital. Four bridges were thrown over it: Kuznetsky, Troitsky, Petrovsky, Voskresensky. In the 16th century, the Neglinnaya River filled the moat near the Kremlin with its waters, and several artificial dams were created on it. A note has been preserved in which the Moscow prince gives an orderAleviz Fryazin to finish the banks of the river with stone and make a dam. Several mill wheels were installed on the river, and the waters of the Neglinka were also used in the work of the mint and the cannon yard. Often the river became a source of problems for Muscovites, it often overflowed its banks, and this caused harm to the residents of the capital.

New life of the Neglinka in the 18th century

During the Northern War, the Neglinnaya River played an important role. On it, by order of Peter the Great, defensive structures were erected - bolters, a channel was also diverted a little to the west and the Swan Pond was lowered. The Swedes could not get to Moscow, and the defensive structures were later dismantled. In the last quarter of the 18th century, it was decided to make a modern stone embankment on Neglinnaya. The project was created by the architect-engineer Gerard Ivan Kondratievich. Muscovites liked the embankment and became a popular place for walking. In those days, the ecological situation was quite favorable and the waters of the Neglinka and Samotechny ponds were a suitable place for fishing. The purity of the water was monitored by special employees of the police department. They forbade bathing horses in the river and washing clothes. The ponds were rented out to entrepreneurs for fish breeding, and in winter they served as a source of ice for city glaciers - refrigerators. But still, in places of dams, stagnant water bloomed and smelled badly, which caused discontent among the local residents. In general, the river in these years was an integral part of city life.

Captive river

In the 19th century, the river began to interfere with the life of the city more and more, it overflowed, no longer smelled very good and took up too much space. Then the idea came up to enclose it within the city in a stone pipe. Yegor Gerasimovich Cheliev, a military engineer, inventor, surveyor, was instructed to develop a design for a suitable structure. Cheliev, in the course of work on the project, invented a special type of cement that hardens under water. A stone pipe was created, into which the waters of the river were directed. Neglinnaya street became a roadway, which greatly facilitated traffic in the city. However, the construction of the pipe was not perfect, the river periodically escaped from captivity, especially during the flood. In addition, cleaning the pipe was a troublesome business and was forgotten all the time, which led to blockages and flooding of the river. At the end of the 19th century, a second collector was built to reduce the load on the structures and prevent the river from overflowing.

Difficult 20th century

In the twentieth century, the city authorities were not up to the arrangement of the river, there were too many other pressing problems. However, the fact that Neglinnaya Street, Tsvetnoy Boulevard and even Theater Square with Alexander Garden were often flooded with the foul-smelling waters of the escaping Neginka forced the city authorities to think about taming the river. In the 1970s, a new, modern collector was built, which partly solved the problems. In 1997, during the large-scale reconstruction of Manezhnaya Square, an imitation of a free-flowing river was created. However, this is an illusion, water from the fountain was launched here, since the state of the river does not allow it to be brought togeneral inspection.

Today

At the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the Neglinka River became the object of research by diggers who tell scary stories about it and lead excursions underground. The ecological state of the river today leaves much to be desired, it smells very bad and poses a constant risk of Muscovites contracting any diseases. Water pollution is very high, it contains many different impurities that are potentially dangerous to humans.