The Manych ( Russian : Маныч ) is a river in the Black Sea–Caspian Steppe of Southern Russia. It flows through the western and central part of the Kuma–Manych Depression . In ancient times, it was known as the Lik .
24-842: A tributary of the Don , it is 420 kilometers (260 mi) long, with its current source at the mouth of the Kalaus in the southwestern part of the Republic of Kalmykia . It flows through the town of Proletarsk and joins the Don in Manychskaya , east of the city of Rostov-on-Don . Along the Manych, going downstream, there are: The Proletarsk Dam is sufficiently high to raise the water level in Lake Manych-Gudilo upstream from it, so in fact
48-573: A waterway connecting this lake (by Gastaldo labeled Ioanis Lago , by Mercator Odoium lac. Iwanowo et Jeztoro ) to Ryazan and the Oka River. Mercator shows Mtsensk ( Msczene ) as a great city on this waterway, suggesting a system of canals connecting the Don with the Zusha ( Schat ) and Upa ( Uppa ) centered on a settlement Odoium , reported as Odoium lacum ( Juanow ozero ) in the map made by Baron Augustin von Mayerberg , leader of an embassy to
72-651: Is a broad, deep waterway capable of transporting oil tanker size vessels. It is one of two which enables ships to depart the Caspian Sea , the other, a series, connected to the Baltic Sea . The level of the Don where connected is raised by the Tsimlyansk Dam, forming the Tsimlyansk Reservoir . For the next 130 kilometres (81 mi) below the Tsimlyansk Dam, the sufficient depth of the Don
96-549: Is maintained by dredging. In order to improve shipping conditions in the lower reaches of the Don, the waterway authorities support plans for one or two more low dams with locks. These will be in Bagayevsky District and possibly Aksaysky District . Main tributaries from source to mouth: Central Russia Central Russia is, broadly, the various areas in European Russia . Historically,
120-548: Is maintained by the sequence of three dam-and-ship-lock complexes: the Nikolayevsky Ship Lock ( Николаевский гидроузел ), Konstantinovsk Ship Lock ( Константиновский гидроузел ), and the best known of the three, the Kochetovsky Ship Lock ( Кочетовский гидроузел ). The Kochetovsky Lock, built in 1914–19 and doubled in 2004–08, is 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) downstream of the discharge of
144-788: Is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia , it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire . Its basin is between the Dnieper basin to the west, the lower Volga basin immediately to the east, and the Oka basin (tributary of the Volga) to the north. Native to much of
168-540: The Seversky Donets and 131 kilometres (81 mi) upstream of Rostov-on-Don . It is at 47°34′07″N 40°51′10″E / 47.56861°N 40.85278°E / 47.56861; 40.85278 . This facility, with its dam, maintains a navigable head of water locally and into the lowermost stretch of the Seversky Donets. This is presently the last lock on the Don; below it, deep-draught navigation
192-465: The Don was influenced by the Byzantine Empire because the river was important for traders from Byzantium. In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers. In the Book of Jubilees , it is mentioned as being part of the border, beginning with its easternmost point up to its mouth, between the allotments of the sons of Noah , that of Japheth to
216-838: The East Manych has been receiving water from the Terek River and the Kuma River via the Kuma–Manych Canal and Terek–Kuma Canal . According to A. Bazelyuk's calculations, the annual water flow in the West Manych (measured at the Vesyoly township) is 8.3 times as high as it was previous to the canal and dam constructions, while that in the East Manych (measured at the Chogray Dam ) is 4.3 times as high as before. If
240-563: The Tanais as Silys . According to an anonymous Greek source, which historically (but not certainly) has been attributed to Plutarch , the Don was home to the legendary Amazons of Greek mythology . The area around the estuary has been speculated to be the source of the Black Death in the mid-14th century. While the lower Don was well known to ancient geographers, its middle and upper reaches were not mapped with any accuracy before
264-506: The Tsardom of Russia in 1661. In modern literature, the Don region was featured in the work And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov , a Nobel-prize winning writer from the stanitsa of Veshenskaya . At its easternmost point, the Don comes within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the Volga . The Volga–Don Canal , 101 kilometres (65 mi), connects the two. It
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#1732764749128288-769: The Vesyolovsk Dam to the upper reaches of the Ust-Manych Reservoir, and 0.9 km (0.56 mi) from the Ust-Manych Dam to where the river joins the Don. Formerly, at least in periods of high water, the Manych River would flow in two directions. The river Kalaus , when reaching the Kuma–Manych Depression at 45°43′N 44°06′E / 45.717°N 44.100°E / 45.717; 44.100 , would split . About 30% of
312-819: The Volga-Don river region was the homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans around 4,000 BC. The Don river functioned as a fertile cradle of civilization where the Neolithic farmer culture of the Near East fused with the hunter-gatherer culture of Siberian groups, resulting in the nomadic pastoralism of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The east Slavic tribe of the Antes inhabited the Don and other areas of Southern and Central Russia . The area around
336-471: The area of Central Russia varied based on the purpose for which it is being used. It may, for example, refer to European Russia (except the North Caucasus and Kaliningrad ). The 1967 book by Stephen P. Dunn and Ethel Dunn The Peasants of Central Russia defines the area as the territory from Novgorod Oblast to the north to the border with Ukraine in the south and from Smolensk Oblast to
360-440: The basin were Slavic nomads. The Don rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Tula (in turn 193 kilometres (120 mi) south of Moscow), and flows 1,870 kilometres to the Sea of Azov . The river's upper half meanders subtly south; however, its lower half consists of a great eastern curve, including Voronezh , making its final stretch, an estuary , run west south-west . The main city on
384-465: The construction of the dams and irrigation channels, i.e. until 1932–1940 for the West Manych, and until 1969 for the East Manych), both rivers were intermittent. During dry years, and even during the drier parts of normal years, both Manych Rivers would consist merely of a chain of small lakes or ponds with brackish or salty water. The system usually would be fully filled with fresh water only during
408-481: The gradual conquest of the area by the Tsardom of Russia in the 16th century. The Don Cossacks , who settled the fertile valley of the river in the 16th and 17th centuries, were named after the river. The fort of Donkov was founded by the princes of Ryazan in the late 14th century. The fort stood on the left bank of the Don, about 34 kilometres (21 mi) from the modern town of Dankov , until 1568, when it
432-616: The lake has become part of the Proletarsk Reservoir. The three reservoirs (and Lake Manych-Gudilo) form an almost continuous chain, the original course of the river being almost entirely flooded by them. According to the calculations of the Russian geographer Alexander Bazelyuk, between Manych-Gudilo and the river mouth, merely 9.1 km (5.7 mi) of the length of the West Manych river remains in its original "river" (rather than reservoir) form: 8.2 km (5.1 mi) from
456-618: The north and that of Shem to the south. During the times of the old Scythians it was known in Greek as the Tanaïs ( Τάναϊς ) and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as both the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the Maeotian marshes . Greeks also called the river Iazartes ( Ἰαζάρτης ). Pliny gives the Scythian name of
480-563: The plans for the proposed Eurasia Canal , linking the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea, are ever implemented, it will likely follow the Manych valley in its central and western section. Don (river) [REDACTED] Ryazan Oblast , [REDACTED] Lipetsk Oblast , [REDACTED] Voronezh Oblast , [REDACTED] Volgograd Oblast , The Don ( Russian : Дон , romanized : don )
504-511: The river is Rostov-on-Don . Its main tributary is the Seversky Donets , centred on the mid-eastern end of Ukraine, thus the other country in the overall basin. To the east of a series of three great ship locks and associated ponds is the 101-kilometre (63 mi) Volga–Don Canal . The name Don could stem from the Avestan word dānu- ("river, stream"). According to the Kurgan hypothesis ,
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#1732764749128528-707: The spring freshet . Since the mid-20th century both Manych Rivers receive significant amounts of fresh water via a network of irrigation canals. Since 1948–1953, the West Manych has been receiving water from the Kuban River (via the Nevinnomyssk Canal and the Yegorlyk , a left tributary of the West Manych) and from the Tsimlyansk Reservoir on the Don (via the Don Canal). Since the late 1960s,
552-603: The water would become the West Manych and flow northwest to, or toward, the Don River. The remaining water became the East Manych and flowed roughly southeast and dried up on the steppe before reaching the Caspian Sea. Sometime around 1970 a low dam was built which prevented any water from flowing into the East Manych. The East Manych is now fed by irrigation canals coming from the Kuma and Terek Rivers. Historically (prior to
576-627: Was destroyed by the Crimean Tatars , but was soon restored at a better fortified location. It is shown as Donko in Mercator 's Atlas (1596). Donkov was again relocated in 1618, appearing as Donkagorod in Joan Blaeu 's map of 1645. Both Blaeu and Mercator follow the 16th-century cartographic tradition of letting the Don originate in a great lake, labeled Resanskoy ozera by Blaeu. Mercator follows Giacomo Gastaldo (1551) in showing
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