In this article we will consider the tributaries of the Neva. The list of these rivers is quite significant. The Neva, which flows from source to mouth for seventy-four kilometers, is replenished with twenty-six tributaries with their waters. Four cities grew up on the banks of this northern river. The main and most famous is St. Petersburg. It is also called the city on the Neva. But there are other large and not very populated areas. Of these, the cities are Shlisselburg, Kirovsk, Otradnoe. What is interesting and even unique about the Neva? This is the only water artery that originates in a closed reservoir - Lake Ladoga. And it flows into the Gulf of Finland in the B altic Sea. No less interesting is the story of the birth of the Neva. We will begin our story with her.
History of the Neva
This river did not appear in the prehistoric era, but much later - only a few thousand years ago. Once Lake Ladoga was not a closed body of water. The water level was lower. The river Mga flowed into the lake. And in the area where the waves of the Neva are now rolling, the Tosna flowed. But gradually the bridge connecting Ladoga with the Gulf of Finland began to swamp. The water level in the lake rose and flooded the Tosna valley. At the highestplace there were Ivanovskiye rapids. And Tosna and Mga turned into tributaries of the Neva River. Now this water artery is an important fragment of the White Sea-B altic Canal. The Neva essentially connects the northern seas with the main Russian river, the Volga.
Etymology
As for the name, there are three versions of its origin. The ancient Finns who lived near Lake Ladoga called it the Nevo-Sea. Whether because of its large size, or because it was once part of the B altic, it is now difficult to say. The second version is based on the Finnish word "Neva", which translates as "swamp". Well, the bridge with the sea has disappeared as a result of siltation. Yes, and the banks of the Neva are quite swampy, which was the main difficulty in the construction of the city of St. Petersburg. And finally, the third version. The Neva may have taken its name from the Swedish word "nu", which means "new". But this version seems unconvincing. After all, the Swedes could hardly know the history of the emergence of Lake Ladoga and the river flowing from it. The Neva, whose tributaries - the Mga and Tosna - were once independent water arteries, nevertheless arose several thousand years ago.
Complex hydrological network
North-West of Russia is the land of numerous rivers and lakes. Low-lying terrain, little evaporation and a fair amount of precipitation contribute to the fact that a lot of water bodies have formed in this region. If we study the Ladoga basin, we can count forty-eight thousand three hundred rivers and twenty-six thousand three hundred lakes in it. Impressiveis not it? And this is not counting the huge number of channels, canals and streams. All these reservoirs are interconnected by an extensive hydrological network. The Neva itself, whose tributaries are navigable, is a great transport artery. At its source, in the city of St. Petersburg, it is divided into several branches, forming numerous islands. The most famous of them are Vasilyevsky, Krestovsky, Dekabristov, Petrogradsky, Hare, Kamenny and Elaginsky. Drawbridges were built in the Venice of the North (as St. Petersburg is also called) so that sea vessels could pass deep into the mainland along the Neva. One of them - the Palace - is the hallmark of the city.
Neva: tributaries on the left
This river absorbs the waters of twenty-six arteries. Consider first those that flow into it from the left side. These are Tosna, Mga, Slavyanka, Izhora, Black River, Moika, Monastyrka, Murzinka and Emelyanovka. Paradoxically, all these tributaries are older than the Neva. And some are even longer. So, the length of Mgi is ninety-three kilometers. Even before the birth of the Neva, its mouth was Lake Ladoga. Now Mga is the natural border of the Kirov and Tosnensky regions. The river is attractive for lovers of water tourism. Another major left tributary of the Neva, the Tosna, is 121 kilometers long. On the banks of this fish-rich river are the settlements of Otradnoye and Nikolskoye. Izhora in its name keeps the memory of the people that once lived on its shores. Slavyanka flows in the Gatchina region. At the place of its confluence with the Neva there is a beautiful cityPavlovsk. Black River (also called Volkovka) flows directly through St. Petersburg. Its confluence is only two kilometers from the mouth of the main river.
Large tributaries of the Neva on the right
Okhta is the leader in this list. The length of this river is about one hundred kilometers. The Okhta flows into the Neva near Petrozavodsk. For the first time this river is mentioned in the First Chronicle of Novgorod, dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century. And until the beginning of the twentieth century, Okhta was a natural border between the St. Petersburg and Shlisselburg counties. Fifteen bridges span this long river. In the south-east of St. Petersburg, the Duck flows into the Neva. The name of this six-kilometer river appeared recently: in the nineteenth century, factories of a certain businessman Utkin stood on its banks. Other less significant tributaries are the Dubrovka, Glukharka, Chernavka, as well as the Gorely, Bezymyanny and Murinsky streams.
Sights of the river
The Neva itself, its tributaries and canals are very picturesque. St. Petersburg owes its beauty to a large extent to the magnificent granite embankments and openwork bridges. A tourist attraction in the city on the Neva is a boat trip along its branches: the Fontanka, the Moika, the Pryazhka, the Kronverk Strait, the Griboedov, Kryukov, Obvodny, Morskoy canals. In the Leningrad region, on this calm and majestic river stands the ancient fortress Oreshek. It was built in 1323. Built in the first half of the eighteenth centuryThe Staraya Ladoga Canal connecting the lake with the Volkhov River. Pavlovsk - a city with a beautiful palace and park ensemble - is one of the main attractions in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. If you travel upstream of the Neva, you can admire the bridge built in 1832 on beautiful columns, as well as the four-chamber granite sluice built in 1836.
