The Neva (Russian Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of three living members of the East Slavic languages. Written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th: Нева́) is a river A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no in northwestern Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal flowing from Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world through the western part of Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position. The oblast was named after the city of Leningrad (historical region of Ingria Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east. Originally the Neva river was the border between Ingria and Karelia but starting in) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea that extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn. The eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland belong to Russia, and some of. Despite its modest length (74 km), it is the third largest river in Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the in terms of average discharge (after the Volga The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including its capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage basin. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can and the Danube The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga).

The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world. Its banks contain four cities: Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург , tr. Sankt-Peterburg, pronounced [sankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk]) is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd (Russian: Петроград, IPA [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat], 19, Shlisselburg Coordinates: 59°57′N 31°02′E / 59.95°N 31.033°E Shlisselburg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated at the head of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga, 35 kilometers (22 mi) east of St. Petersburg. From 1944 to 1992, it was known as Petrokrepost. Population: 12,401 (2002 Census); 12,589 (1989 Census). The fortress and the city, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, as well as dozens of settlements. The river is navigable throughout and is part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway and White Sea – Baltic Canal. It is a site of numerous major historical events, including the Battle of the Neva The Battle of the Neva was fought between the Novgorod Republic and Swedish armies on the Neva River, near the settlement of Ust-Izhora, on July 15, 1240. The purpose of the Swedish invasion was probably to gain control over the mouth of the Neva and the city of Ladoga and, hence, seize the most important part of the Trade Route from the in 1240 which gave Alexander Nevsky Saint Alexander Nevsky listen (Алекса́ндр Яросла́вич Не́вский in Russian; transliteration: Aleksandr Yaroslavich Nevskij) (May 30, 1220? – November 14, 1263) was the Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, its name, the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703 and the Siege of Leningrad The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation by the German Army Group North and the Finnish Defence Forces to capture Leningrad in the Eastern Front theatre. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last land connection to the city was severed. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrow land by the German army during World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·.

Contents

Etymology

There are at least three versions of the origin of the name Neva: from the ancient Finnish name of Lake Ladoga (Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven: nevo meaning sea), from the Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven: neva (short from Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven: Nevajoki, Nevajärvi) meaning swamp, or from the Swedish Swedish ( svenska ) is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish (see especially "Classification"). Along: ny – new river.[1] Modern names for the distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary. Distributaries usually occur as a stream nears a lake or the ocean, but they can occur inland as of the river delta A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the were settled only by the end of the 18th century.

Description

The history of the delta

In the Paleozoic The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era (from the Greek palaios , "old" and zoe (ζωή), "life", meaning "ancient life") is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Paleozoic spanned from roughly 542 to 251 million years ago (ICS, 2004), and is subdivided into six geologic periods; from oldest to, 300–400 million years ago, the entire territory of the modern delta A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the of the Neva River was covered by a sea. Modern relief was formed as a result of glacier activity. Its retreat formed the Littorina Sea, the water level of which was some 7–9 meters higher than the present level of the Baltic Sea. Then, the Tosna River was flowing in the modern bed of the Neva, from east to west into the Litorinal Sea. In the north of the Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land that connects Russia to Finland, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva (between 61°21’N, 59°46’N and 27°42’E, 31°08’E). Its natural northwestern boundary is either the Salpausselkä ridge in, the Littorina Sea united by a wide strait with Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world. The Mga River then flowed to the east, into Lake Ladoga, near the modern source of the Neva River; the Mga then was separated from the basin of the Tosna.[2]

Near the modern Lake Ladoga, land rose faster, and a closed reservoir was formed. Its water level began to rise, eventually flooded the valley of Mga and broke into the valley of the river Tosna. The Ivanovo rapids A rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the flow surface. As flowing water splashes over and of the modern Neva were created in the breakthrough area. So about 2000 BC the Neva was created with its tributaries Tosna and Mga. According to some newer data, it happened at 1410–1250 BC making the Neva a rather young river.[3] The valley of Neva is formed by glacial and post-glacial sediments and it did not change much over the past 2500 years.[4] The delta of Neva was formed at that time, which is actually pseudodelta, as it was formed not by accumulation of river material but by plunging into the past sediments.[5]

Topography and hydrography

Neva flows from Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world near Shlisselburg Coordinates: 59°57′N 31°02′E / 59.95°N 31.033°E Shlisselburg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated at the head of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga, 35 kilometers (22 mi) east of St. Petersburg. From 1944 to 1992, it was known as Petrokrepost. Population: 12,401 (2002 Census); 12,589 (1989 Census). The fortress and the city, runs on the Neva Lowland and falls into the Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea that extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn. The eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland belong to Russia, and some of, Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. The Kattegat continues. Its length is 74 km and the shortest distance from the source to the mouth is 45 km. The river banks are low and steep, on average about 3-6 meters and 2-3 meters in the mouth. There are three sharp turns: the Ivanov rapids, at Nevsky Forest Park of the Ust-Slavyanka region (the so-called crooked knee) and near the Smolny Institute, below the mouth of the river Ohta.[5] The average decline of the river is 4.27 meters.[6] At one point the river crosses a moraine A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age. This debris may have been plucked off the valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have fallen off the valley walls as a result of frost wedging ridge and forms the Ivanov rapids. There, at the beginning of the rapids is the narrowest place of the river (210 m). The average flow rate in the rapids is about 0.8–1.1 m/s. The average width along the river is 400–600 m. The widest places (1000–1250 m) are in the delta, near the gates of Sea trading port, at the end of the Ivanovo rapids near the confluence of the river Tosna, and near the island Fabrinchny near the source. The average depth is 8–11 m; the maximum of 24 m is reached above the Liteyny Bridge and the minimum (4.0–4.5 m) is in Ivanov rapids.[7]

In the area of Neva basin, rainfall greatly exceeds evaporation; the latter accounts for only 37.7% of the water consumption from Neva and the remaining 62.3% is water runoff.[8] Since 1859, the largest volume of 116 km³ was observed in 1924 and the lowest in 1900 (40.2 km³).[5] The average annual water consumption is 78.9 km³ (2500 m³/s on average).[6] Because of the uniform water flow from Lake Ladoga to Neva over the whole year, there is almost no floods A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, and corresponding water rise in the spring. Neva freezes throughout from early December to early April. The ice thickness is 0.3–0.4 m within Saint Petersburg and 0.5–0.6 m in other areas. Ice congestions may form in winter in the upper reaches of the river, this sometimes causes upstream floods. Of the total ice volume of Lake Ladoga (10.6 km³) only less than 5% is brought to Neva.[8] Average summer water temperature is 17–20 °C. Swimming season is short and lasts only about 1.5 months. Water is fresh, with medium turbidity; the average salinity is 61.3 mg/L and the calcium bicarbonate Calcium bicarbonate (Ca2), also called calcium hydrogen carbonate, does not refer to a known solid compound; it exists only in aqueous solution containing the ions calcium (Ca2+), dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2), bicarbonate (HCO3–), and carbonate (CO32–). The relative concentrations of these carbon-containing species depend on the pH; content is 7 mg/L.[5]

Average streamflow. Values in brackets are percentage of the annual values.[8]
Quantity April to June July to September October to November December to March Total
Runoff, km³ 22.7 (28.5%) 23.5 (29.4%) 14.1 (17.7%) 19.4 (24.4%) 79.7
Suspended sediment, kt The Ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term 162 (31.7%) 136 (26.7%) 143 (28.0%) 69 (13.6%) 510
Bottom sediments, kt 26.5 (40.8%) 15.8 (24.3%) 21.3 (32.7%) 1.4 ( 2.2%) 65.0
Ions runoff, kt 735 (25.6%) 729 (25.4%) 712 (24.8%) 694 (24.2%) 2870
Heat sink, 1015 cal The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule. However, in many countries it remains in common use as a unit of food energy 168 (28.4%) 359 (60.7%) 63 (10.7%) 1 (0.2%) 591
Ice runoff, km³ 0.57 (81.4%) – 0.13 (18.6%) – 0.7
View on the mouth of Ladoga Canal Ladoga Canal is a historical water transport route, now situated in Leningrad Oblast, linking the Neva and the Svir River so as to bypass the stormy waters of Lake Ladoga which lies immediately to the north. It is about 117 kilometres (73 mi) long and comprises two distinct but overgrown canals Old Ladoga Canal (built in 1719-1810, previously and on the Neva Neva at the mouth of the Izhora River The Izhora , also known as Inger River, is a left tributary of the Neva River on its run through Ingria in northwestern Russia from Lake Ladoga to Gulf of Finland. A settlement of Ust-Izhora (lit. "mouth of Izhora") is situated at the confluence of Izhora and Neva, halfway between Saint Petersburg and Schlisselburg. The town of Kolpino Neva near the Peter the Great Bridge View from the Trinity Bridge

Basin, tributaries and distributaries

The basin area of Neva is 5,000 km², including the pools of Lake Ladoga and Onega (281 km²). The basin contains 26,300 lakes and has a complex hydrological network of more than 48,300 rivers, however only 26 flow directly into Neva. Main tributaries are Mga, Tosna, Izhora The Izhora , also known as Inger River, is a left tributary of the Neva River on its run through Ingria in northwestern Russia from Lake Ladoga to Gulf of Finland. A settlement of Ust-Izhora (lit. "mouth of Izhora") is situated at the confluence of Izhora and Neva, halfway between Saint Petersburg and Schlisselburg. The town of Kolpino, Slavyanka and Murzinka on the left, and Okhta and Chernaya River on the right side of Neva.[5]

The hydrological network had been altered by the development of St. Petersburg through its entire history. When it was founded in 1703, the area was low and swampy and required construction of canals and ponds for drainage. The earth excavated during their construction was used to raise the city. At the end of 19 century, the delta of Neva consisted of 48 rivers and canals and 101 islands. The most significant distributaries of the delta are listed in the table. Before construction of the Obvodny Canal, the left tributary of that area was Volkovka River; its part at the confluence is now called Monastyrka River. The Ladoga Canal Ladoga Canal is a historical water transport route, now situated in Leningrad Oblast, linking the Neva and the Svir River so as to bypass the stormy waters of Lake Ladoga which lies immediately to the north. It is about 117 kilometres (73 mi) long and comprises two distinct but overgrown canals Old Ladoga Canal (built in 1719-1810, previously starts at the root of Neva and connects it along the southern coast of Lake Ladoga with Volkhov River Volkhov is a river in Novgorod Oblast and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia.[9]

Some canals of the delta were filled over time, so that only 42 islands remained by 1972, all within the city limits of St. Petersburg. The largest islands are Vasilievsky Vasilievsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva from South and Northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland from the West. Vasilievsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River. Together they form the territory of Vasileostrovsky District, an administrative subdivision of (1050 ha The hectare is a unit of area, defined as 10,000 square metres, and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2. When the metric system was rationalised in 1960 with the introduction of the International), Petrogradsky (570 ha), Krestovsky (420 ha) and Dekabristov (410 hectares); others include Zayachy, Yelagin and Kamenny Islands.[9] At the root of the Neva, near Shlisselburg, there are two small islands Orekhovyi and Fabrichnyi. Island Glavryba lies up the river, above Otradnoye town.

Main waterways of the Neva delta.[10]
Name Region Length, km
Bolshaya Neva from the mouth of the Fontanka to the Blagoveshchensky Bridge 2.40
From the Blagoveshchensky Bridge to the Palace Bridge 1.22
Malaya Neva 4.85
Ekateringofka 3.60
Zhdanovka 2.20
Smolenka 3.30
Bolshaya Nevka from the Neva to Malaya Nevka 3.70
from Malaya Nevka to Middle Nevka 2.05
From Middle Nevka to Neva Bay 2.15
Middle Nevka 2.60
Malaya Nevka 4.90
Karpovka 3.00
Krestovka 0.74
Fontanka 6.70
Moyka 4.67
Griboyedov Canal 5.00
Pryazhka 1.32
Kryukov Canal 1.15
Obvodny Canal 8.08

Flora and fauna

Fruits of viburnum.

There is almost no aquatic vegetation in Neva. The river banks mostly consist of sand, podsol, gleysols, peat Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world. By volume there are about 4 trillion m³ of peat in the world covering a total of around 2% of global land mass , and boggy peat soils.[11] Several centuries ago, the whole territory of the Neva lowland was covered by pine See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. See list of pines by region for list of species by geographical distribution and spruce It is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 35–55 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-1.5 m. The shoots are orange-brown and glabrous (hairless). The leaves are needle-like, 12–24 mm long, quadrangular in cross-section (not flattened), and dark green on all four sides with inconspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are 9–17 cm mossy Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems. At certain times mosses produce spore capsules which may appear as beak-like forests. They were gradually reduced by the fires and cutting for technical needs. Extensive damage was caused during World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·: in St. Petersburg, the forests were reduced completely, and in the upper reaches down to 40–50%.[12] Forest were replanted after the war with spruce, pine, cedar Cedar is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They share a very similar cone structure with the firs (Abies) and were traditionally thought to be most closely related to them, but molecular evidence supports a basal position in the family. They are native to the mountains of the western Himalaya and the Mediterranean region,, Siberian larch, oak, Norway maple, elm, America, ash, apple tree, mountain ash and other species. The shrubs include barberry, lilac, jasmine, hazel, honeysuckle, hawthorn, rose hip, viburnum, juniper, elder, shadbush and many others.[13]

Nowadays, the upper regions of the river are dominated by birch and pine-birch grass-shrub forests and in the middle regions there are swampy pine forests.[11] In St. Petersburg, along the Neva, there are many gardens and parks, including the Summer Garden, Field of Mars, Rumyantsev, Smolny, Alexander Gardens, Garden of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and many others.[9]

Because of the rapid flow, cold water and lack of quiet pools and aquatic vegetation the diversity of fish species in Neva is small. Permanent residents include such undemanding to environment species as perch, ruffe and roaches. Many fish species are transitory, of which commercial value have smelt, vendace and partly salmon.[14]

A birch forest The Summer Garden Field of Mars Alexander Garden

Floods

Main article: Floods in Saint Petersburg

Floods in St. Petersburg are usually caused by the overflow of the delta of Neva and by surging water in the eastern part of Neva Bay. They are registered when the water rises above 160 cm with respect to a gauge at the Mining Institute. More than 300 floods occurred after the city was founded in 1703.[15][16][17] Three of them were catastrophic: on 7 November 1824, when water rose to 421 cm; on 23 September 1924 (369 cm) and 10 September 1777 (321 cm) and (321 cm).[14] However, a much larger flood of 760 cm was described in 1691.[18]

Besides flooding as a result of tidal waves, in 1903, 1921 and 1956 floods were caused by the melting of snow.[19]

Floods in St. Petersburg
7 November 1824, in front of Bolshoi Theatre 7 November 1824 Sadovaya Street near the former Nikolsky Market, 15 November 1903 Bolshaya Podyacheskaya Street, 25 November 1903
Boat transportation over Vasilievsky Island during the flood of 23 September 1924 Vladimirsky Avenue after the flood of 1924 A pier during the flood of 18 October 1967 Near the Mining Institute on 18 October 1967

Ecological condition

The Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia classifies Neva as a "heavily polluted" river. The main pollutants are copper, zinc, manganese, nitrites and nitrogen. The dirties tributaries of Neva are Mga, Slavyanka, Ohta and Chernaya.[20] Hundreds of factories pour wastewaters into Neva within St. Petersburg and petroleum is regularly transported along the river. The annual income of pollutants is 80,000 tonnes,[21] and the heaviest polluters are Power-and-heating Plant 2 (Russian: ТЭЦ-2), "Plastpolymer" and "Obukhov State Plant". The biggest polluters in the Leningrad Oblast are the cities of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, as well as the Kirov TPS. More than 40 oil spills are registered on the river every year.[22] In 2008, the Federal Service of St. Petersburg announced that no beach of Neva is fit for swimming.[21]

Cleaning of waste water in St. Petersburg was started in 1979 and by 1997 about 74% of wastewater was purified. This number rose to 85% in 2005, to 91.7% by 2008, and is expected to reach 100% by 2011 with the completion of the expansion of the main sewerage plant.[23].

History

Before 1700

Many cites of ancient people, up to nine thousand years old, were found on the territory of Neva basin. It is believed that about 12 thousand years BC, Finno-Ugric peoples (Votes and Izhorians) moved to this area from the Ural Mountains.[24]

In the 8–9th centuries AD, the area was inhabited by the East Slavs who were mainly engaged in slash and burn slash agriculture, hunting and fishing. In the 8–13th centuries, Neva provided a waterway from Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire. From the 9th century, the are belonged to Veliky Novgorod.[25] Neva is already mentioned in the Life of Alexander Nevsky (13 century).[26]. That time, Veliky Novgorod was constantly engaged in wars with Sweden. A major battle occurred on 15 July 1240 at the confluence of Izhora to Neva River. The Russian army, lead by the 20 years old Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, aimed to stop the planned Swedish invasion. The Swedish army was defeated; the prince showed personal courage in combat and since then received the honorary name of "Nevsky".[27][28]

As a result of the Russian defeat in the Ingrian War of 1610–1617 and the concomitant Treaty of Stolbovo, the area of Neva River became part of Swedish Ingria. Since 1642, the capital of Ingria was Nyen, a city near the Nyenschantz fortress. Because of the financial and religious oppression, much of the Orthodox population left Neva region, emptying 60% of the villages by 1620. The abandoned areas became populated by people from the Karelian Isthmus and Savonia.[29].

Victory of Alexander Nevsky over the Swedes by B. Chorikov Assault on the Oreshek fortress on 11 October 1702 by Alexander Kotzebue Map of the Peter the Great Canal (1742) Map of St. Petersburg (1720)

Russian period

Main article: History of Saint Petersburg

As a result of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721, the valley of Neva River became part of Russian Empire. On 16 May 1703, the city of St. Petersburg was founded in the mouth of Neva and became capital of Russia in 1712.[25] Neva became the central part of the city. It was cleaned, intersected with canals and enclosed with embankments. In 1715, construction began of the first wooden embankment between the Admiralty and the Summer Garden. In the early 1760s works started to cover it in granite and to build bridges across Neva and its canals and tributaries, such as the Hermitage Bridge.[5].

From 1727 to 1916, the temporary Isaakievsky pontoon bridge was early constructed between the modern Saint Isaac's Square and Vasilievsky Island. A similar, but much longer (500 m) Trinity pontoon bridge was brought from the Summer Garden to Petrogradsky Island. The first permanent bridge across Neva, Blagoveshchensky Bridge, was opened in 1850, and the second, Liteyny Bridge, came into operation in 1879.[5]

In 1858, a "Joint-stock company St. Petersburg water supply" was established, which built the first water supply network in the city. A two-stage water purification station was constructed in 1911. The development of the sewerage system began only in 1920, after the October Revolution, and by 1941, the sewerage network was 1,130 km long.[5]

Every winter from 1895 to 1910, electric tramways were laid on the ice of the river, connecting the Senate Square, Vasilievsky island, Palace Embankment and other parts of the city. The power was supplied through the rails and a top cable supported by wooden piles frozen into the ice. The service was highly successful and ran without major accidents except for a few failures in the top electrical wires. The trams ran at the speed of 20 km/h and could carry 20 passengers per carriage. The carriages were converted from the used horsecars. About 900,000 passengers were transported over a regular season between 20 January and 21 March. The sparking of contacts at the top wires amused spectators in the night.[30][31][32][33]

View down the Neva River between the Winter Palace and St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Engraving of 1753. Palace Embankment (1826). View on the Smolny Convent from Bolshaya Ohta (1851). Tramways on the frozen Neva (more images).

Soviet and modern periods

Main article: History of Saint Petersburg

The first concrete bridge across Neva, the Volodarsky Bridge, was built in 1936.[34] During World War II, from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 Leningrad was in the devastating German Siege. On 30 August 1941, the German army captured Mga and came to Neva. On 8 September Germans captured Shlisselburg and cut all land communications and waterways to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad). The siege was partly relieved in January 1943, and ended on 27 January 1944.[25]

A river station was built above the Volodarsky Bridge in 1970 which could accept 10 large ships at a time. Wastewater treatment plants were built in Krasnoselsk in 1978, on the Belyi Island in 1979–1983, and in Olgino in 1987–1994. The South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant was constructed in 2003–2005.[5]

Commercial use

Neva has very few shoals and its banks are steep, making the river suited for navigation. Utkino Backwaters were constructed in the late 19th century to park unused ships. Neva is part of the major Volga–Baltic Waterway and White Sea – Baltic Canal, however it has relatively low transport capacity because of its width, depth and bridges. Neva is available for vessels with capacity below 5,000 tonnes. Major transported goods include timber from Arkhangelsk and Vologda; apatite, granite and diabase from Kola Peninsula; cast iron and steel from Cherepovets; coal from Donetsk and Kuznetsk; pyrite from Ural; potassium chloride from Solikamsk; oil from Volga region. There are also many passenger routes to Moscow, Astrakhan, Rostov, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Valaam and other destinations.[35] Navigation season on the Neva River runs from late April to November.[36]

To the west of Shlisselburg, an oil pipeline runs under the river. The pipeline is part of the Baltic Pipeline System, which provides oil from Timan-Pechora plate, West Siberia, Ural, Kazakhstan and Primorsk to the Gulf of Finland. The 774 meter long pipeline lies 7–9 meters below the river bottom and transits about 42 million tonnes of oil a year.[37].

Near the Ladozhsky Bridge there is an underwater tunnel to host a gas pipeline Nord Stream. The tunnel has diameter of 2 meters, length of 750 meters and is laid at a maximum depth of 25 meters.[38].

Neva is the main source of water (96%) of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. From 26 June 2009, St. Petersburg started processing the drinking water by ultraviolet light, abandoning the use of chlorine for disinfection.[39]. Neva also has developed fishery, both commercial and recreational.[7]

Bridges

Main article: List of bridges in Saint Petersburg

Leningrad Oblast:

St. Petersburg:

St. Petersburg, delta of Neva River

Kuzminskii railway bridge Big Obukhovsky Bridge Liteyny Bridge Blagoveshchensky Bridge

Construction of the Novo-Admiralteisky Bridge, a movable drawbridge across the river, has been approved, but will not commence before 2011.[40]

Attractions on the river

See also: Saint Petersburg

Whereas most tourist attractions of Neva are located within St. Petersburg, there are several historical places upstream, in the Leningrad Oblast. They include the fortress Oreshek, which was built in 1323 on the Orekhovy Island at the source of Neva River, south-west of the Petrokrepost Bay, near the city of Shlisselburg. The waterfront of Schlisselburg has a monument of Peter I.[41] In the city, there are Blagoveshchensky Cathedral (1764–1795) and a still functioning Orthodox church of St. Nicholas, built in 1739. On the river bank stands the Church of the Intercession. Raised in 2007, it is a wooden replica of a historical church which stood on the southern shore of Lake Onega. That church was constructed in 1708 and it burned down in 1963. It is believed to be the forerunner of the famous Kizhi Pogost.[42][43]

Old Ladoga Canal, built in the first half of the 18th century, is a water transport route along the shore of Lake Ladoga which is connecting the River Volkhov and Neva.[41] Some of its historical structures are preserved, such as a four-chamber granite sluice (1836) and a bridge (1832).

Notable incidents on the river

See also: Tupolev 124 ditching in Neva River

On 21 August, 1963 a Soviet twinjet Tu-124 airliner performed an emergency water landing on Neva near the Finland Railway Bridge. The plane took off from Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport (TLL) at 08:55 on August 21, 1963 with 45 passengers and 7 crew on board and was scheduled to land at Moscow-Vnukovo (VKO). After liftoff, the crew noticed that the nose gear undercarriage did not retract, and the ground control diverted the flight to Leningrad (LED) – because of fog at Tallinn. While circling above St. Petersburg at the altitude of at 1,650 feet (500 m), under unclear circumstances (lack of fuel was one of the factors), both engines stalled. The crew performed emergency landing on the Neva River barely missing some of its bridges and a 1898-built steam tugboat. The tugboat rushed to the plane and towed it to the shore. No casualties were sustained at any stage. The plane captain was first fired from job but then restored and awarded with the Order of the Red Star.[44][45][46]

References

  1. ^ Toponymic Encyclopedia of Saint Petersburg. St. Petersburg.: Informational and publishing agency LIC, 2002.
  2. ^ Gerold Wefer (2002). Climate development and history of the North Atlantic realm. Springer. pp. 217–219. ISBN 3540432019. http://books.google.com/books?id=LElrclnl0C8C&pg=PA217.
  3. ^ Saarnisto, Matti and Grönlund, Tuulikki (1996). "Shoreline displacement of Lake Ladoga — new data from Kilpolansaari". Hydrobiologia 322 (1-3): 205–215. doi:10.1007/BF00031829.
  4. ^ Darinskii, A.V. (1982). Geography of Leningrad. Lenizdat. pp. 12-18. http://books.google.com/books?id=KuRdPAAACAAJ.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j St. Petersburg: Encyclopedia. - Moscow: Russian Political Encyclopedia. 2006 ISBN 5-8110-0107-X
  6. ^ a b Nezhihovsky, R. A. (1981). Neva River and Neva Bay. Gidrometeoizdat. http://books.google.com/books?id=PQ8LHQAACAAJ.
  7. ^ a b Darinskii, A.V. (1982). Geography of Leningrad. Lenizdat. pp. 34–45.
  8. ^ a b c Leningrad. Historical atlas. M.: Main Office of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. 1981. p. 59. http://books.google.com/books?id=sk7LQgAACAAJ.
  9. ^ a b c Historical atlas "Leningrad". M.: GUGK CM USSR, 1977
  10. ^ Leningrad. Historical atlas. M.: Main Office of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. 1981. p. 57. http://books.google.com/books?id=sk7LQgAACAAJ.
  11. ^ a b Atlas of Leningrad Oblast. GUGK at USSR Council. 1967. http://books.google.com/books?id=_lFwAAAAIAAJ.
  12. ^ Darinskii, A. V. Leningrad region. Lenizdat, 1975, pp. 48–49
  13. ^ G. Lihotkin, N. Milash Nevsky Forest Park 1968 (in Russian)
  14. ^ a b All of the Neva River: bridges, tributaries, flooding ... (in Russian)
  15. ^ Holly Hughes, Larry West (2008). Frommer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear. Frommer's. p. 327. ISBN 047018986X. http://books.google.com/?id=xMDPksxFhCYC&pg=PA327.
  16. ^ D. V. Ryabchuk et al.. The Neva Bay (Russia) - antropogenic lagoon. All-Russia Research Geological Institute. http://balticlagoons.net/wp-content/uploads/balloon//2010/04/baloon-NG.pdf.
  17. ^ Water pollution in the hydroelectric power plants area
  18. ^ List of floods in St. Petersburg (in Russian)
  19. ^ A. Morozova (26 February 2010). "A bridge might be removed in St. Petersburg because of the flood". Komsomolskaya Pravda. http://spb.kp.ru/online/news/624216/.
  20. ^ quality of surface waters of the Russian Federation. Yearbook. 2006
  21. ^ a b "Clean Neva". Greenpeace. http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/ru/save-neva/project.
  22. ^ "Clean Neva". Greenpeace. http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/ru/save-neva/neva.
  23. ^ "В next two years, St. Petersburg will be cleaned of almost 100% of wastewater". RIA Novosti. http://eco.rian.ru/shortage/20091020/189781554.html.
  24. ^ Sharymov, Alexander History of St. Petersburg. 1703. Book studies. Journal Neva, 2004 ISBN 5-87516-044-6
  25. ^ a b c V. A. Ezhov Leningrad region: a historical sketch, Lenizdat, 1986 (in Russian)
  26. ^ Electronic publication of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), RAS
  27. ^ The biographical dictionary of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, Volume 1. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1842. p. 855. http://books.google.com/books?id=ASVlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA855.
  28. ^ D. G. Kirby (2006). A concise history of Finland. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 052183225X. http://books.google.com/books?id=hF-e7dTr_xYC&pg=PA8.
  29. ^ In "captivity" of the Swedes
  30. ^ Tram in St. Petersburg (in Russian)
  31. ^ Over Neva on ice (in Russian)
  32. ^ For 3 kopeks over Neva, 5 February 2010, Vechernii St. Petersburg (in Russian)
  33. ^ E. Shapilov, ed (1994) (in Russian). From horsecar to tram: History of transport in St. Petersburg. ISBN 5874170022. http://books.google.com/books?id=JgO3AAAAIAAJ.
  34. ^ Antonov, B. I. "Bridges of St. petersburg", Glagol, 2002.
  35. ^ Russian river fleet and tourism INFOFLOT.RU
  36. ^ Boats in St. Petersburg
  37. ^ Transneft has finished laying a tunnel under the Neva
  38. ^ energy space. By Neva laid tunnel for the Nord Stream
  39. ^ Vodokanal of St. Petersburg
  40. ^ Novo Admiralty-bridge across the Neva
  41. ^ a b Староладожский и Новоладожский каналы (in Russian)
  42. ^ Ethnographic and open-air museums, UNESCO, pp. 170-173
  43. ^ Church of the Intercession - reborn from the ashes
  44. ^ "A320 splashed on the Hudson, as the Tu-124 on the Neva River in 1963". AviaPort. http://www.aviaport.ru/digest/2009/01/16/164980.html.
  45. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630821-2.
  46. ^ "The plane could land on the city but landed .. on Neva". Petrovsky Courier, No 41 (211). 2 November 1998. http://www.nevariver.ru/airplane.php.

External links

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