Within Moscow, there are about 150 watercourses. Many of them flow fully or partially underground. This article will talk about a small rivulet flowing in the southern part of the capital. So, get acquainted: the Bitsa River. Where does it start, where does it flow, and what is its length?
General information about the river
The Bitsa River (also Abitsa, or Obitsets) is a watercourse within Moscow and the Moscow Region that belongs to the Volga basin. This is the second largest tributary of Pakhra. The river flows through several districts and residential areas of Moscow: Teply Stan, Yasenevo, Northern Butovo.
The Bitsa River is a small watercourse. Its total length is 24 kilometers, the catchment area is 101 square meters. km The average depth of the channel is 0.5 meters.
In the archival documents there are several names of this watercourse: Abitsa, Obitsa, Obitsets, Bitsa and others. The earliest mention of the river dates back to 1480. There are two main versions of the origin of this hydronym. According to the first of them, the name comes from the Old Slavonic "whitewash", which means "go around." According to another hypothesis, the hydronym is associated with the old Russian word "dweller", which translates as "island". Some researchers attribute its origin to the Baltic word abista.
River flow: from source to mouth
Where does the Bitsa River begin? And where does she carry her little waters? Now let's find out.
Bitza originates in the vicinity of the Teply Stan district, near the intersection of the Moscow Ring Road and Profsoyuznaya Street. The source of the river are several springs located within the Golubinsky forest park (see map below).
Almost immediately, Bitsa hides in an underground collector and comes to the surface near secondary school No. 1020. Then she crosses the Yasenevsky forest park, replenished with the waters of the Mikhailovsky ravine. After that, the river goes beyond the MKAD and takes in the Frolov stream.
Almost five kilometers of Bitsa flows parallel to the Moscow Ring Road, crossing the Northern Butovo area. Then, bypassing the Kachalovsky ponds, the river goes beyond Moscow.
In the Moscow Region, a watercourse passes through a number of villages and towns (Bitsa, Vyrubovo, Izmailovo, Spasskoye, Bulatnikovo). Further, the river crosses the railway line (Paveletskaya branch), the Don motorway and abruptly turns south, heading to the city of Vidnoye. Having passed several more villages, Bitza once again crosses the Paveletskaya railway. The mouth of the river is located on the outskirts of the village of Pavlovskoye near the railway bridge.
Tributaries and ponds
Bitza tributaries are represented mainly by ravines (Frolov, Popov, Mikhailovsky, Zavyalovsky, Znamensky, Kachalovsky, Botanical), small streams and rivulets (Zhuravenka, Kupelinka, Kozlovka and others).
A number of ponds and small reservoirs have been created in the Bitsa Riverbed. All of them are in the upper and middle reaches of the river. We list all these reservoirs (in the direction from source to mouth):
- Bitsevsky.
- Old Bitza.
- Upper, Small and Big Kachalovsky.
- Upper Znamensky.
- Hryvnia.
- Bulatnikovsky.
In the upper reaches, directly at the head, the water in Bitza is relatively clean. Subsequently, it is heavily polluted by urban wastewater. For this reason, swimming and fishing in Bitza and its ponds is not recommended. The watercourse in the MKAD area is especially polluted. Passing through the Upper Znamensky Pond, the Bitza water is noticeably purified.
Bitsa River: fishing and ichthyofauna
According to avid fishermen, the bite on the Bitza is pretty good. Here, in particular, perch, crucian carp and carp are well caught. Sometimes, with luck, a pike or roach can be fished out of the water. The best fishing is characteristic of Bulatnikovsky pond, located in the middle reaches of the river.
Bitza, despite the significant degree of anthropogenic transformation of her valley, managed to preserve quite large sections of natural shores - wild, swampy and heavily overgrown. In summer, small roach is excellently caught in such places, and in winter crucian carp.
It is important to note that the Bitsa River and its reservoirs are suitable only for training or recreational fishing. Due to the proximity of the metropolis and significant water pollution, the fish in this river is considered inedible.
Park in the floodplain of the Bitsa River
The shores of almost all Moscow watercourses have enormous recreational potential. After all, here, if desired, you can create all the conditions for a complete rest of the capital's residents. In 2014, active improvement of the Bitsa River floodplain began within the Northern Butovo region. All work, according to the press service of the metropolitan government, should be completed in the fall of 2018.
The new Bitsa park should become another pearl in the necklace of the green areas of Moscow. It stretches along the banks of the river and is divided into Dmitry Donskoy Boulevard into two parts of almost equal size.
The total area of landscaped area is 15 hectares. About 1,500 different plants are planned to be planted here. Among them are red oak, white willow, larch, Japanese spirea and other exotic species. The future park has a very picturesque relief, and the designers were faced with a difficult task: to correctly fit various recreational zones into this landscape.
The park is already equipping wooden flooring, seating areas, platforms near the water. A network of alleys and paths with a total length of 6.2 kilometers is being created.
Bitsevsky forest
Another important natural attraction located in the floodplain of the Bitsa River is the so-called Bitsa Forest. It is the second largest green zone of Moscow (after Elk Island). The total forest park area is 2208 hectares, the length from west to east is 4 km, from north to south - 10 km.
Bitsa Forest has great environmental, recreational and environmental importance for the city. This is a particularly valuable natural complex with a significant variety of flora and fauna. It plays the role of a kind of "green wedge" - a bridge through which clean air penetrates into the heart of Moscow.
The forest park flora is represented by more than 600 plant species. The average age of trees in this forest is 85 years. Individual oak massifs reach the age of 150-200 years. Significant areas are occupied by aspen and birch forests. Bitsa Forest today is a place of active recreation for Muscovites, both in summer and in winter.
Manor Trubetskoy
In the floodplain of the Bitsa River , several historical and architectural monuments have also been preserved. The most significant among them is the Znamenskoye-Sadki estate. The architectural complex of the estate is located on the left bank of the river, at the northwestern outskirts of the region of Northern Butovo.
The ensemble of the estate, once owned by the Trubetskoy princely family, consists of several buildings. Best preserved main house with a charming arched portico at the main entrance, a wooden one-story outbuilding and a laundry building. The highlight of the estate is a two-tiered Pink Hall, decorated with an old lampshade depicting the chariot of the god Mars.
In the 70s, the famous Soviet film "My Tender and Tender Beast" was shot on the estate. Today, unfortunately, entry to its territory is limited.