In Europe, the Volga is the largest river, but in Russia it is the largest in size only in fifth place. In the Tver region on the Valdai Upland there is the village of Volgoverkhovye. Near it stands a chapel - this is the place where the Volga River originates from.
Even before our era, the Egyptians, Greeks and Slavs who lived at that time called it Ra, the embodiment of the god of the Sun, and those places where it flows were called the holy country of Irius (Paradise).
In the Middle Ages, it, since the place where the Volga River originates, is in Russia, received the Russian name, which means "wetland" or "current stream". But the Turks living downstream gave it the name "Itil", that is, "endless", "river of rivers."
In total, she overcomes the path of 3530 km. And if the beginning of the Volga River is a tiny swampy brook, and the first bridge through it is only 3 meters long, then after 10 km it flows into Lake Sterzh, once the first of the Upper Volga Lakes, which now turned into one reservoir. Having passed the chain of former lakes, the river becomes full-flowing and flows up to Tver in its original channel. Just below, another reservoir begins, it is often called the Moscow Sea. However, up to Volgograd, the river represents several man-made lakes, and only on the Caspian lowland does the Volga acquire its natural channel 500 km long. And before falling into the Caspian Sea, it forms many arms that make up the vast delta (about 19,000 sq. Km).
Today, the Volga is distinguished by its majestic, measured current, in other places it is even difficult to notice. Although before, when there were no dams and reservoirs on it, her temper was steeper, with rifts. The memory of this remained only in the names of coastal cities and towns and in old legends. But in the lower reaches and in places of reservoirs it can be dangerous, unlike places where it originates.
The Volga River has more than two hundred tributaries, which themselves are full-flowing and large rivers. For example, the Kama tributary is the largest, it is even more modern and longer in length of its "mother." But the Volga basin totals more than 150 thousand more or less large rivers (which have a length of over 10 km)
If you believe the guidebooks, then the Volga can reach almost any corner of the world. And being near the chapel, where the Volga River originates, this is not at all true.
With absolute accuracy, we can only say that it is really possible to go on a cruise from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg or Astrakhan. The capital can be reached through the Moscow Canal. You will get to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea via the Volga-Don Canal. And the Volga-Baltic route will lead you to the Baltic Sea, while the White Sea-Baltic and North Dvina routes will bring you to the White Sea.
Besides the fact that you can make cruises along the river, the Volga is a source of large fish resources. About 70 species of fish live there, most of which are commercial. This is herring, and stellate sturgeon, and roach, and sterlet with sturgeon, and bream with pike. Not without reason fishermen from all over our vast country, and abroad, too, are striving there.
And if you decide to go on a trip, then start from the places where the Volga River originates, where it is still just a small trickle, which after a few hundred kilometers becomes a great Russian river, amazing in its beauty and grandeur.