Flowing into the Volga in the region of the famous Russian city of Tver, its left tributary is called Tvertsa. Since time immemorial, the Tvertsa River has served people: it was a solid segment of the waterway that went down in history from the Volga to the legendary Lake Ilmen, from there to Veliky Novgorod, and later in the 18th century, with the birth of the Vyshnevolotsky river system, within the Northern capital of Russia empire.
Our publication will tell about this waterway, its interesting name and path.
The origin of the name of the river Tvertsa
Scientists and historiographers still can not come to a consensus on the emergence of this very interesting name. Thanks to whom is the river Tvertsa so named, from what language does the name come from? There are several versions - Slavic, Polish, Finno-Ugric and even Lithuanian, according to which the basis of this bright name is Finnish tiori ("fast"), Slavic "firmament", Polish twierdza ("fortress") or Lithuanian tvora ("fence") .
Probably, to a certain extent, all of the names listed are true, since people lived from ancient times on the “sparse place” formed at the mouth of the Tvertsa River - at first Finno-Ugric tribes, then Slavic, and for all the river was necessary, served as protection and support, fed and dressed. We will not look for the true roots of this appellation, understanding that it is practically impossible, we will only take as the basis the fact that the ancient river, no matter how it was called, for centuries carried the life of everyone who settled on its banks.
Characteristic
The original sources of the river, located today in the areas of the famous Vyshny Volochyok , have long and successfully been drained.
In their place grew modern multi-story urban complexes. In the upper reaches, the river is connected by a channel with the Tsna River. The length of the river is very impressive - almost 188 km, and the area is more than 6.5 thousand square meters. km The ancient Russian cities of Tver and Torzhok are spread along the banks.
The numerous tributaries of Tverts are numerous:
- left - Misfire, Tigma, Small Tigma, Lair, Malitsa, Cava, Schegra;
- right - Osuga (largest), Sominka.
Hydrography
In the upper reaches, the river valley is quite extensive. It reaches almost 180 meters wide. Lower Torzhok in the middle part of the stream narrows noticeably in the floodplain, reaching 80 m. The height of the coast here is 20-25 m. And in the lower reaches the valley expands again to 300 m and connects to the terrace. The width of its channel is 30-50 m, and in the retaining zone it reaches 80.
The Tvertsa River is famous for its abundance of reaches, the depth of which varies between 1.5-4.5 m. There are many riffles - small and sparkling under the bright sun, warming the clear, crystal water. A nine-kilometer backwater stretches from the mouth of the Volga.
The riverbed abounds with rapids. The indigenous inhabitants of these places, tourists, athletes and just lovers of river rafting on kayaks are familiar with their names - Los, Babiy, Prutensky, Yamskaya and others. But places in the area of Osechenka - the railway platform of the Tver - Bologoe direction, are especially fond of travelers. They are considered the best to start the rafting. And the distance from the train stop to the river is minimal here - no more than a kilometer.
The Tver is opened when the sun begins to really warm the air - in early April. A short ice drift lasts 3-4 days, and the flood can rage for up to a month and a half. The river rises, dragging on ice, at the very end of November.
River food
Since the waters of Vyshnevolotsk storage, formed by the Tsna and Shlina rivers, fill Tvertsa, it is full-flowing from the source. These waters make up half of the incoming food, 30-35% give groundwater, and 15-20% - rain.
Getting the main power from the Vyshnevolotsk system, artificially regulated by dams, the Tvertsa river (Tver region) sometimes noticeably shallow.
Features of the way
The river flows in very high banks, famous for dense forests - mixed and coniferous. More open shores in the upper reaches: here, at the headwaters, the channel is about 15 m wide, 1 m deep, and large stones rise in some places. Behind the village of Bely Omut, the Tvertsa River sharply turns to the east, expanding the channel to 30 m and becoming a little deeper. In these places, rifts and many ruins from old, already destroyed dams (for example, near the village of Babye) are not uncommon.
Behind Vydropuzhsky begins the most picturesque thirty-kilometer stretch of river. The shores here are steep and steep. On them are the most beautiful pine and spruce forests. These places are quite deserted - there are no settlements at all, and this affects the state of the forests. This continues to the mouth of the tributary of Tvertsa - the Osuga River, with the arrival of waters of which both the depth of Tvertsa (up to 1.5 m) and its width (40 m) increase.
After the confluence of Osugi, and then Shegra, the Tvertsa River is gaining strength, becoming wider (up to 80 m in the channel) and deep (up to 2 m). However, in these places on the rifts there are impressive boulders that appeared in antiquity, brought by the glacier. The largest roll with a magnificent rocky shallow, strong current and a minimum depth of 20 cm is located at Prutni. Here Tvertsa makes its way among the impressive hills of a moraine ridge, rising above the water.
The forest disappears from the shores just below Prutni and Mitina. Such they remain until Torzhok. Here the riverbed becomes even wider (up to 90 m), however, the depth here is not great either: it reaches two meters on the stretches, and only one and a half on many rifts. Behind the village of Spas, where the river, winding, turns in a south-westerly direction, the banks are again covered with an excellent conifer. Here, among the ship pines and centuries-old fir trees, there are many attractive corners that have long been chosen by tourists and fishermen.
Below the village of the Copper Forest almost disappear. Here the coasts take on a completely different look - they become sloping. The channel is replete with many islands and shallows, the width of the river remains at the level of 75 m, and the depth is 1.5 m. At this stretch of the path, the valley widens noticeably, and villages are located along the banks. This section of the river flows along Tver, and then flows into the Volga.
Archaeological finds
Long ago, people settled on the banks of Tvertsa, due to the convenient central location of the river. Today, more and more new archaeological sites are constantly opening : primitive sites, ancient settlements and mounds.
These picturesque places are still not fully explored by scientists, and who knows how many discoveries the Tvertsa River still conceals. Photos of the river and the surrounding areas confirm this. In addition to the magnificent archaeological heritage of Tverts, for many it is simply a favorite place for recreation and fishing. It is worth mentioning the magnificent monuments of ancient Russian architecture: on Tvertsa many monasteries and churches.
Tvertsa River: fishing
Of greatest interest to fishermen are the upper and middle reaches of the river. Especially average, where the Tigmen beaver reserve is located. But lovers of catching bleak do not even need to leave Tver: seasoned city fishermen claim that with the onset of warm days, this fish pecks at bloodworms excellently.