Some historians interpret the name of this river as a derivative of the Turkic word "maturlyk", which translates as "beautiful". But this version is not recognized by all toponymists. There is another version about the origin of the name, according to which Matyra in translation means “a river rushing, squirming through the valley.”
There is one interesting opinion regarding this area. The city of Makhtura (or Matura), mentioned in the ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata", located in the locality of Kurukshetra (Oka-Don Plain, Kursk Field), was located at the mouth of the Matyra River, at its confluence with the Voronezh River. It was by the name of this river that the name of the village of Matyrsky was given.
General information about the rivers of the Lipetsk and Tambov regions
In total, in the territory of the Lipetsk region there are 127 rivers with a length of more than 10 kilometers, about 200 streams and about 2200 sources. The largest rivers: Don (length 1870 km) with two tributaries (Pine and Beautiful Mecha), Voronezh with tributaries Matyra and StanovayaCassock. Almost all reservoirs, except Ranovy, belong to the Don basin. Basically, the sources of the rivers of this area are springs, groundwater.
193 large rivers over 10 km long flow through the territory of the Tambov region. Water here is one of the components of the landscape. The Tsna River is the largest river in the region, which is the left tributary of the Moksha River (Volga basin). Its length is 446 kilometers, of which 291 belong to the Tambov region.
Description of the river
The Matyra River flows through the territories of the Lipetsk and Tambov regions of Russia. The total length is 180 kilometers, the area is 5180 km2. She takes her start near the village of Bolshaya Matyra, not far from the Orel-Tambov highway. It becomes full-flowing after the confluence of the Plavitsa River (the village of Yablonovets). At the border of the city of Lipetsk, the river flows into the river as a tributary. Voronezh (near the village of Sokolsky). In the Lipetsk region, the river receives the waters of Baigora, Samovets and Lukovchanka. The headwaters of the Samovets River is already in the Tambov region. There is a reservoir on the river (more details below) in the Lipetsk region. After the dam, the river narrows and flows through swampy areas.
The Matyra River in the Tambov region has a length of 120 km. The basin in its northern part borders on the basins of the Polnaya Voronezh and Lesnaya rivers, from the east on the river. Tsny, and from the south with the Bityug river basin. The forest cover is small, as in the Lipetsk region. Forest vegetation is concentrated in patches and mainly in the upper reaches of the river -Matyrskaya Oak. It is located in the area of rural settlements Krutoe, Bol. Znamenka, Shekhman and Yablonovets. In the Tambov region, Shekhman and Izberdey flow into the river on the right, and on the left Gryaznusha, Plokusha, Bychok, Plavitsa and Mordovka.
Food of the reservoir is mostly snow. The river freezes from November to December, and opens from late March to early April. At 39 kilometers from the mouth, the average annual water flow is almost 12 m³/sec.
For your information, the distance between Lipetsk and Tambov on the highway is 135 kilometers.
Nature
Geographically, the river basin is located on the Oka-Don plain. The area is gently hilly, slightly crossed by gullies and ravines, and is covered mainly with steppe vegetation.
The soil cover is characterized by a significant diversity: from ordinary chernozems to forest gray soils. There are separate small areas of the forest, mainly with pines, less often - with deciduous trees (oak, aspen and maple predominate). They grow in the valley from the mouth of the Izberdeika River to the mouth of the Gryaznushi. The forest tracts are larger, extending on the site of the Matyr reservoir (on both sides of the Kazinsky reach). It should be noted that the forest cover of the river basin is small, it leaves less than 5%, but in these places the fields are plowed up (75%).
Matyr reservoir
In the river of the Lipetsk region in 1976 a reservoir was created for the needs of a metallurgical plant (today - a plant in Novolipetsk). It stretched from Annino forNew Life.
The area is approximately 45 square meters. km, length - 40 km, width - 1.5 km, and the average depth - 13 m. The population living near the artificial reservoir was resettled due to problems with flooding. It is part of the city of Gryazi and several smaller rural settlements that no longer exist today.
Matyr reservoir is very beautiful and picturesque. On the shore among the forests there are recreation centers and sanatorium complexes for comfortable rest and recovery.
The Significance of Matyra
The left largest tributary of the Voronezh has a huge water content in comparison with other tributaries. The contribution of the Matyra River to the total water content is quite noticeable.
If we compare the average annual water capacity of the Voronezh River before and after their confluence, the result is as follows: the inflow adds about 40% of the water mass.
