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57-587: As an important commodity, sometimes dubbed "the gold of the north", amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy , Greece , the Black Sea , Syria and Egypt over a period of thousands of years. The oldest trade in amber started from Sicily . The Sicilian amber trade was directed to Greece, North Africa and Spain. Sicilian amber

114-756: A good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth. The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain to Gdańsk. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping, including the Vistula, which had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most river shipping travelled north, with southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts often being sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. In order to arrest recurrent flooding on

171-565: A number of alpine roads, concentrating around the capital city Bern and probably originating from the banks of the Rhône and Rhine . A small section, including Baarn , Barneveld , Amersfoort and Amerongen , connected the North Sea with the Lower Rhine . A small section led southwards from Antwerp and Bruges to the towns Braine-l'Alleud and Braine-le-Comte , both originally named "Brennia-Brenna". The route continued by following

228-572: A project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków , this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the east–west connection via the Narew – Bug – Mukhovets – Pripyat – Dnieper waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely. Vistula

285-971: Is a geomorphological feature in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic and the Upper Silesia region in Poland . It is formed by the depression between the Carpathian Mountains in the east and the Sudetes in the west. The drainage divide between the upper Oder river and the Baltic Sea in the north and the Bečva River of the Danube basin runs through it. It stretches from Moravia towards Czech Silesia north-eastward in

342-760: Is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, 1,220 meters (4,000 ft) above sea level in the Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains ), where it begins with the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ) and the Black Little Vistula ( Czarna Wisełka ). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including Kraków , Sandomierz , Warsaw , Płock , Włocławek , Toruń , Bydgoszcz , Świecie , Grudziądz , Tczew and Gdańsk . It empties into

399-612: Is the northern part of the proposed E40 waterway , continuing eastward into the Bug River , linking the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea . Large parts of the Vistula Basin were occupied by the Iron Age Lusatian and Przeworsk cultures in the first millennium BC. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years. The Vistula Basin along with

456-615: The Kitan/Liao Period . There is a tourist route stretching along the Baltic coast from Kaliningrad to Latvia called "Amber Road". "Amber Road" sites are: In Poland, the north–south motorway A1 is officially named Amber Highway. EV9 The Amber Route is a long-distance cycling route between Gdańsk , Poland and Pula , Croatia which follows the course of the Amber Road. The modern Baltic–Adriatic Corridor connects

513-689: The Meuse towards Bern in Switzerland. Routes connected amber finding locations at Ambares (near Bordeaux ), leading to Béarn and the Pyrenees . Routes connecting the amber finding locations in northern Spain and in the Pyrenees were a trading route to the Mediterranean Sea. Sources of archaeological finds suggest that routes may also have connected Mongolia to eastern Europe during

570-602: The North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals, and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat. Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to Bydgoszcz (where the Bydgoszcz Canal joins the river). It can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Farther upstream the river depth lessens. Although

627-873: The Oder river in Germany. After the war in late 1946, the former Austrian SS member Amon Göth was sentenced to death and hung on 13 September at the Montelupich Prison in Kraków, not far from the site of the Płaszów camp , the camp of which he was commandant throughout The Holocaust . His remains were cremated and the ashes thrown in the Vistula River. Moravian Gate The Moravian Gate ( Czech : Moravská brána , Polish : Brama Morawska , German : Mährische Pforte , Slovak : Moravská brána )

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684-537: The Vistula Lagoon ( Zalew Wiślany ) or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta of six main branches ( Leniwka , Przekop , Śmiała Wisła , Martwa Wisła , Nogat and Szkarpawa ). The river has many associations with Polish culture , history and national identity. It is Poland's most important waterway and natural symbol , flowing notably through Kraków and the capital Warsaw , and

741-491: The 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the end of the Vistula and its tributary waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed, and by far the largest centre of crafts and manufacturing, and the most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During

798-718: The Alpine zone to which the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river were shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea—thousands of years ago it flowed into

855-734: The Amber Road to the south of the Danube, noted in the myth about the Argonauts , used the rivers Sava and Kupa , ending with a short continental road from Nauportus to Tarsatica in Rijeka on the coast of the Adriatic. Several roads connected the North Sea and Baltic Sea, especially the city of Hamburg to the Brenner Pass , proceeding southwards to Brindisi (nowadays Italy) and Ambracia (nowadays Greece). The Swiss region indicates

912-478: The Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. At this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians , but Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country. Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. This factor is evident when looking at the tonnage of grain traded on the river in the key years of: 1491: 14,000; 1537: 23,000; 1563: 150,000; 1618: 310,000. In

969-573: The Baltic coastline (nowadays Lithuania and Poland ), through Biskupin, Milicz , Wrocław , the Kłodzko Valley (less often through the Moravian Gate ), crossed the Danube near Carnuntum in the Noricum province , headed southwest past Poetovio , Celeia , Emona , Nauportus , and reached Patavium and Aquileia at the Adriatic coast. One of the oldest directions of the last stage of

1026-553: The German ). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th-century historian Jan Długosz , Wanda, daughter of King Krak , became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed suicide , drowning in the Vistula River, to ensure he would not invade her country again. For hundreds of years

1083-577: The River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary , in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within

1140-697: The Royal Tomb of Qatna , Syria, is unparalleled among known second millennium BC sites in the Levant and the Ancient Near East . Amber was sent from the North Sea to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering. From the Black Sea , trade could continue to Asia along the Silk Road , another ancient trade route. In Roman times, a main route ran south from the Baltic coast (modern Lithuania ),

1197-635: The Vistula Lagoon, now for flood control closed to the east with a lock) and a west-flowing branch (the Danzig (Gdańsk) Vistula, Przegalinie branch, reached the sea in Danzig). Until the 14th century, the Elbing Vistula was the bigger. List of right and left tributaries with a nearby city, from source to mouth: According to flood studies carried out by Zbigniew Pruszak, who is the co-author of

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1254-608: The Vistula and the Neman . It provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal , Dnieper River , Berezina Canal, and Dvina River . The Baltic Sea– Vistula– Dnieper– Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road , on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe to Greece, Asia, Egypt , and elsewhere. The Vistula estuary

1311-458: The Vistula below this point is sometimes called the Leniwka . Various causes (rain, snow melt, ice jams ) have caused many severe floods of the Vistula over the centuries. Land in the area was sometimes depopulated by severe flooding, and later had to be resettled. See (Figure 7, on page 812 at History of floods on the River Vistula ) for a reconstruction map of the delta area as it was around

1368-503: The border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter . The Order had inherited Gniew from Sambor II , thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk gained great importance in

1425-482: The confluences with the Narew river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea. The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres (75,068 square miles) (in Poland 168,700 square kilometres (65,135 square miles)); its average altitude is 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level . In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3 ⁄ 4 of

1482-651: The course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However, the Soviets let down the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts. In early 1945, in the Vistula–Oder Offensive , the Red Army crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht back past

1539-589: The decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula ), was fought as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress by the river's mouth. The Polish September campaign included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, close to

1596-403: The early Baltic region. As this road was a lucrative trade route connecting the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, Roman military fortifications were constructed along the route to protect merchants and traders from Germanic raids. The Old Prussian towns of Kaup and Truso on the Baltic were the starting points of the route to the south. In Scandinavia the amber road probably gave rise to

1653-569: The eighth century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the Bavarian Geographer 's ninth-century document was the Vistulans ( Wiślanie ) in southern Poland. Kraków and Wiślica were their main centres. Many Polish legends are connected with the Vistula river and the beginnings of Polish statehood . One of the most enduring is that about Princess Wanda co nie chciała Niemca ( who rejected

1710-702: The entire north–south length of modern-day Poland (likely through the Iron Age settlement of Biskupin ), through the land of the Boii (modern Czech Republic and Slovakia ) to the head of the Adriatic Sea ( Aquileia by the modern Gulf of Venice ). Other commodities were exported to the Romans along with amber, such as animal fur and skin, honey, and wax, in exchange for Roman glass , brass , gold , and non-ferrous metals such as tin and copper imported into

1767-597: The lands of the Rhine , Danube , Elbe , and Oder came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the first century AD. This does not imply that the inhabitants were " Germanic peoples " in the modern sense of the term; Tacitus , when describing the Venethi , Peucini and Fenni , wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather Sarmatians since they have some similar customs to them. Ptolemy , in

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1824-516: The last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring. As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in its river basin: the Eastern European Plain , Western Europe, and

1881-645: The length of about 50 km (31 mi) and is bordered by the confluence of the Olza and the Odra ( Oder ) rivers in the north. Its crest is located between the villages of Olšovec and Bělotín at 310 m (1,020 ft). Its average altitude is 270 metres (890 ft). Because of its low altitude, the Moravian Gate has since ancient times been a natural pass between the Sudetes ( Oderské vrchy range) in

1938-581: The lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889–95 constructed an artificial channel about 12 kilometres (7 miles) east of Gdańsk (German name: Danzig )—known as the Vistula Cut (German: Weichseldurchstich ; Polish: Przekop Wisły )—that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the Baltic . As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow and

1995-467: The mouth, where the river Nogat splits off. The Nogat also starts separately as a river named (on this map ) Alte Nogat (Old Nogat) south of Kwidzyn , but further north it picks up water from a crosslink with the Vistula, and becomes a distributary of the Vistula, flowing away northeast into the Vistula Lagoon (Polish: Zalew Wiślany) with a small delta. The Nogat formed part of the border between East Prussia and interwar Poland. The other channel of

2052-499: The name Istula . Ammianus Marcellinus referred to the Bisula (Book   22) in the 380s. In the sixth century Jordanes ( Getica   5 & 17) used Viscla . The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to the Wistla . The 12th-century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek Latinised the river's name as Vandalus , a form presumably influenced by Lithuanian vanduõ 'water'. Jan Długosz (1415–1480) in his Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae contextually points to

2109-414: The northwest and the Western Carpathians ( Moravian-Silesian Beskids ) in the southeast. Here ran the most important trade routes, such as the Amber Road from the Baltic to the Adriatic coast, as well as roads from the Czech lands to Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland . Today the D1 highway leads from the Moravian capital Brno to Ostrava , the centre of the Moravian-Silesian Region . Further to

2166-518: The phrase "Country upon Vistula" ( Polish : kraj nad Wisłą ) can be synonymous with Poland. Historically, the river was also important for the Baltic and German ( Prussian ) peoples. The Vistula has given its name to the last glacial period that occurred in northern Europe, approximately between 100,000 and 10,000 BC, the Weichselian glaciation . The name Vistula first appears in the written record of Pomponius Mela (3.33) in AD   40. Pliny in AD   77 in his Natural History names

2223-523: The place of Sicilian amber throughout the Iberian Peninsula from around 1000 BC. The new evidence comes from various archaeological and geological locations on the Iberian Peninsula. From at least the 16th century BC, amber was moved from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean area. The breast ornament of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen ( c.  1333–1324 BC) contains large Baltic amber beads. Schliemann found Baltic amber beads at Mycenae, as shown by spectroscopic investigation. The quantity of amber in

2280-400: The reign of Stephen Báthory Poland ruled two main Baltic Sea ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain. Grain was also the largest export commodity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The volume of traded grain can be considered

2337-491: The river Vistla (4.81, 4.97, 4.100). The root of the name Vistula is often thought to come from Proto-Indo-European * weys- : 'to ooze, flow slowly' (cf. Sanskrit अवेषन् avēṣan "they flowed", Old Norse veisa "slime"), and similar elements appear in many European river-names (e.g. Svislach (Berezina) , Svislach (Neman) , Weser , Viešinta ). In writing about the river and its peoples, Ptolemy uses Greek spelling: Ouistoula . Other ancient sources spell

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2394-431: The river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch , which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. The river forms a wide delta called Żuławy Wiślane , or the "Vistula Fens" in English. The delta currently starts around Biała Góra near Sztum , about 50 km (31 mi) from

2451-478: The river basin ranges from 100 to 300 metres (328 to 984 feet) in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at 2,655 metres (8,711 feet) (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains ). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry—in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central European Lowland toward the northwest, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, and considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of

2508-418: The river delta. During the Invasion of Poland (1939) , after the initial battles in Pomerelia , the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura . The Auschwitz complex of concentration camps

2565-419: The river was one of the main trading arteries of Poland, and the castles that line its banks were highly prized possessions. Salt , timber , grain , and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the Teutonic Knights Order, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia to help him fight the pagan Prussians on

2622-534: The river, stating "of the eastern nations, of the Polish east, from the brightness of the water the White Water...so named" ( Alba aqua ), perhaps referring to the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ). In the course of history the river has borne similar names in different languages: German: Weichsel ; Low German : Wießel ; Dutch : Wijsel [ˈʋɛisəl] ; Yiddish : ווייסל Yiddish pronunciation: [ˈvajsl̩] ; and Russian : Висла , romanized :  Visla . Vistula rises in

2679-419: The scientific paper Implications of SLR and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland's Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in Copenhagen , it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level ) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100. The history of

2736-401: The second century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania and Sarmatia . Vistula River used to be connected to the Dnieper River , and thence to the Black Sea via the Augustów Canal , a technological marvel with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers,

2793-456: The southern Silesian Voivodeship close to the tripoint involving the Czech Republic and Slovakia from two sources: Czarna ("Black") Wisełka at altitude 1,107 m (3,632 ft) and Biała ("White") Wisełka at altitude 1,080 m (3,540 ft). Both are on the western slope of Barania Góra in the Silesian Beskids in Poland. Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to Sandomierz ; central, from Sandomierz to

2850-431: The territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km (69,600 sq mi), the Niemen (51,600 km  [19,900 sq mi]), the Oder (46,700 km  [18,000 sq mi]) and the Daugava (10,400 km  [4,000 sq mi]). In 1920

2907-546: The thriving Nordic Bronze Age culture, bringing influences from the Mediterranean Sea to the northernmost countries of Europe. Kaliningrad Oblast is occasionally referred to in Russian as Янтарный край , which means "the amber region" (see Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum ). Old coastal Amber road route goes along E67 highway from Reiu in Häädemeeste Parish of Pärnumaa South, where it continues as 331 local road between Rannametsa and Ikla villages. The shortest (and possibly oldest) road avoids alpine areas and led from

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2964-530: The two seas along routes that roughly follow the Amber Road. Vistula The Vistula ( / ˈ v ɪ s tj ʊ l ə / ; Polish : Wisła [ˈviswa] ; German : Weichsel [ˈvaɪksl] ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at 1,047 kilometres (651 miles) in length. Its drainage basin , extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km (65,200 sq mi)

3021-460: The year 1300: note much more water in the area, and the west end of the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) was bigger and nearly continuous with the Drausen See . As with some aggrading rivers, the lower Vistula has been subject to channel changing. Near the sea, the Vistula was diverted sideways by coastal sand as a result of longshore drift and split into an east-flowing branch (the Elbing (Elbląg) Vistula, Elbinger Weichsel, Szkarpawa, flows into

3078-441: Was also discovered in Mycenae by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann , and it appeared in sites in southern Spain and Portugal. Its distribution is similar to that of ivory, so it is possible that amber from Sicily reached the Iberian Peninsula through contacts with North Africa. After a decline in the consumption and trade of amber at the beginning of the Bronze Age , around 2000 BC, the influence of Baltic amber gradually took

3135-430: Was at the confluence of the Vistula and the Soła rivers. Ashes of murdered Auschwitz victims were dumped into the river. During World War II prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in

3192-433: Was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel ; Polish: Martwa Wisła ). German states acquired complete control of the region in 1795–1812 (see: Partitions of Poland ), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914–1918 and 1939–1945. From 1867 to 1917, after the collapse of the January Uprising (1863–1865), the Russian tsarist administration called the Kingdom of Poland the Vistula Land . Almost 75% of

3249-405: Was settled by Slavs in the seventh and eighth century. Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula River. This however contradicts another hypothesis supported by some researchers saying the Veleti moved westward from the Vistula delta. A number of West Slavic Polish tribes formed small dominions beginning in

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