Message on the topic of the Sozh River. The Sozh River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Belarus. Fish and its prey

Route along the river Besed (from Belynkovichi) and r. Sozh (to Gomel) Length 215 km.
Time: June 2007

My long-time dream was to walk through the resettlement zone. There is always something mysterious in those places where people once lived. You can see nature polluted by people at every step, but I wanted to see how nature lives without people. The choice fell on the Besed route. Before the hike, we only knew about the Besed River what was written in the encyclopedia. “The channel is highly winding and branched, the width is 15-20 m in the upper reaches and 30-40 m in the lower reaches, in some areas up to 100 meters. The river valley is cut by oxbow lakes and tributaries, and is swampy in places. The banks are steep and steep in places. 20% of the river basin is covered with forests. Water flow at the mouth is 28.4 cubic meters/sec.” (for comparison: Ptich - 45.6, Shchara - 37.7, Svisloch - 40-50).

The means of transportation along the route were two Taimen-2 kayaks. For radiation monitoring, we took a dosimeter with us. Preliminary calculation of kilometers was carried out using the OZI EXPLORER computer program. The mileage traveled was monitored using GPS readings. According to preliminary calculations, the mileage was 205 km, according to the final calculations - 215 km. The difference between the estimated distance and the distance traveled was due to the inaccuracy of the measurement using the electronic map. This difference was approximately 4.5%, and was maximum in the first two days (+10%).

The Grodno-Belynkovichi train brought us to the final station in one night. After the bustle of the capital, the station struck us with silence and an almost complete absence of people. The radiation background (hereinafter RF) at the station and the surrounding area turned out to be within 20 microSieverts/hour (μSv/h). It was about 3 km to get to Besedi. There were no regular buses, nor any passing transport. Locals said that there are cars on weekdays, but today was Saturday. While waiting for transport, they were on duty near the store. People began to approach the opening of the store, among whom there were many humanoid creatures in unkempt clothes with bluish faces and reddish eyes. The only transport we could find was the Belarus tractor, the pride of the domestic engineering industry, with a mounted plow and a sober tractor driver. Backpacks and boats were laid and tied directly onto the plow. I sat next to the tractor driver, and the rest went on foot. We haven't traveled like this yet. True, there was another option for delivering equipment. It would be possible to send one person to the village of Belynkovichi, along the outskirts of which a river flowed, and he would find transport and return to the station for equipment.

1st day of the hike.

The boats were assembled in the meadow below the road bridge (there is a store nearby).
The river is 15-20 meters wide, shallow, the bottom is sandy and hard. The banks are meadow, along the banks there are periodically alder trees, oaks, and sometimes pine forests.
RF on the river 6–9, on the shore 9–14 µSv/h.
9.7 km. We passed the Druzhba oil pipeline. The river became much wider, the forest retreated.
10-20 km. Meadow banks, forest appears periodically. There are places to rest. On the river are the villages of Kolodlivo and Dubrova.
20-25 km. The river is wide, sometimes divided into branches, and there are many oxbow lakes. There is no forest on the shore, but there is a solid shore with a convenient exit.
RF on the river 6-8, on the banks 9-11 μSv/h.
25-27 km. Along the banks there are thickets of willow and alder. There are no places to rest.
27.8 km. Ford. There is a spring on the right bank. You can find a parking place some distance from the river. RF 17-20. Further to the road bridge (Prudok village) there are no parking spaces. We stopped at the 30th kilometer on the left bank. A gentle cliff 1.5 meters high. The bank is meadow, but in some places there are bushes and trees, and with them firewood. RF on the shore is 30-50, and a little further, in the lowlands and bushes up to 98 μSv/h. We chose a site for tents with RF 30-34. Walked 33 km in a day

2nd day of the hike.

We are walking through the evacuation zone.
At the 34th and 36th km Besed approaches sandy cliffs on the left bank, with a pine forest at the top. We pass the non-residential villages of Zarechye and Khotimsk. There are no traces of human habitation, and only a single pillar on the shore and old piles in the water indicate that people once lived here. RF on the water 10-11. The banks are meadow in some places, swampy in others, with a lot of bushes. Sometimes you can find access to the shore, but there are no good places to stop.
At the 47th and 48th kilometers, the river on its left bank approaches a pine forest on a steep bank. In these places the river forms large and deep oxbow lakes. Similar places occur several times in the area from 48 to 50 km. At the 51st km we approach the village of Antonovka (Russia, Bryansk region). At the beginning of the village there are abandoned dilapidated objects, but the village is inhabitable. Beyond the village the river goes back into meadows and swamps. At the 56th km the river approaches the high left bank with a pine forest. Locals call this place Bald Mountain. Landing is poor and parking can only be found at the very top. There is a spring on the mountainside. RF on the river 9, on the mountain slope 16-20. In other places along the traversed section, they did not go ashore and did not control the Russian Federation. A kilometer and a half later there is a similar shore with an oxbow lake, but it is already called Black Mountain (not to be confused with Montenegro). At approximately the 60th kilometer we stopped for lunch. RF on the river is 10, 10-15 meters from the shore 28-30, and even further it reaches 90 μSv/h. A good parking spot is found at km 67, then beyond the village of Makarichi. At the 71st km there is a flat, solid shore and a pine forest 30 meters away. Similar places occur 3-4 more times. Stopped at 74.5 km (41 km covered in a day)
The parking place is not bad: a high bank with a pine forest. The shore is convenient for swimming and mooring, just below there is a meadow where we set up our tents. Nearby is a large, fishy oxbow lake with a depth of more than 2 m. RF on a mountain in a forest 14, in a meadow 18-20 μSv/h.p

3rd day of the hike.

76.2 km is the mouth of the Paluzh River, and below it (77th km) there is a gentle sandy bank bordered by bushes. Further along the banks are meadows, along the banks there are many willow trees and bushes, and frequent oxbow lakes. At the 80th km on the left there is a high bank with a good exit and a pine forest. There's an old lady right there. And a little lower there are 3 more convenient exits and good places with equipped parking.
82 km. We approached Krasnaya Gora (the regional center of the Bryansk region, population 7 thousand). On the territory of Red Mountain, the river has a wide, slightly swampy floodplain, forms channels, oxbow lakes, and islands. In a word, it forms something like a landscape park. A suspended pedestrian bridge stretches across the entire floodplain, the longest I have ever seen. On the territory of the city, the banks are polluted with various kinds of garbage. And, as the highest manifestation of civilization, dumping sewage into the river. At the end of the city there is a road bridge. Outside the city, the river becomes wide and uninteresting. And only after 10 km the river narrows somewhat and beautiful places appear. At the 92nd km there is a beach on the left, good access to the shore and a clearing bordered by a pine forest. 98th km, on the right is an oxbow lake, and behind it is a solid, flat bank with a pine forest 30 meters from the water. 100th kilometer: on the right there are three sandy slopes with a pine forest at the top and a bivouac area at the bottom. Further on there are shores with a swampy or bushy shoreline. Near the village of Kazatskie Bolsuny (this is Belarus again), the river once again divides into branches, forming islands in a wetland (such places exist on Ptich in the middle reaches). We decided to go along one of the secondary branches. At first we walked 300-400 meters along a narrow and shallow channel, and then we found ourselves in a labyrinth of swampy lakes, bays, oxbow lakes and channels. The GPS showed us that we were about to enter the main channel, but each time the next channel disappeared into the bushes, and we returned back and looked for new exits. Throughout the vast water area there were numerous nets and tops. It was a real poaching reserve, where the Rybnadzor had never set foot. I must say that getting into the mainstream cost us some effort. After leaving the labyrinth, we walked a few more kilometers along a swampy floodplain overgrown with bushes and came to a beautiful place. At the 112th kilometer, the river rested on a hard, gently sloping sandy bank and went to the right, and a huge branched oxbow went to the left. There was a pine forest on the shore, bordering a cozy clearing. Here we stopped for the night. We walked 38 km in a day. RF on the shore, in the clearing and in the forest did not exceed 26 μSv/h.

4th day of the hike.

The next morning, after walking 200 meters, we found another good place. But further, for 10 kilometers, the river meandered along a wide swampy floodplain among swamps, meadows and oxbow lakes. The first place to stop appeared opposite the village of Chemernya (landmark power line): on the left there is a gently sloping solid bank with bushes and trees in the distance. Another convenient place to spend the night will be found after another 2 km: the river approaches a gently sloping sandy bank with a pine forest, and then a sandy cliff begins. Then we walk another 10 km along a swampy floodplain with overgrown bushes and meadow banks. Among the landmarks we will meet only the bridge in the village of Svetilovichi, the village of Zhelezniki with the mouth of the river. Stolbunki, and the village of Nekrasovo. And only at the 141st km does the river approach the left bank to a sandy cliff with a pine forest and an equipped parking area. Further on, the river again becomes uninteresting and, although one bank or the other rises periodically, there are no parking places. The village of Starye Gromyki went unnoticed by us from the river. We located the village of Khizy using GPS and decided to go explore. We climbed onto a high bank, overgrown with bushes and uncut grass for years, and immediately found ourselves in a village. All that was left of the houses were destroyed cellars and foundations, densely overgrown with three-meter birch trees. The outlines of the farmsteads could be guessed from the concrete fence posts that remained in some places (the looters were not able to remove all of them). Instead of wells, there are deep holes in the ground (the upper, outer rings have been removed and taken away). In the gardens there are dense thickets of garlic, succulent stems almost waist-deep. Old, crusty, unkempt fruit trees look ridiculous and look more like crosses in an abandoned cemetery. Above everything rise single poles with torn wires and stork nests at the top. And through the entire village stretches a road to nowhere, or rather to the past. In the past, when people lived here, worked, loved, rejoiced, gave birth and raised children. From the past life, only the gables of the cowshed and the village cemetery have been preserved. On the road, the dosimeter showed 30-40 μSv/h, but as soon as I left the road, it began to squeak, showing from 80 to 190 μSv/h.
We moved away from the village and began to look for a place to stay for the night. From time to time there were good places, but everywhere the dosimeter showed from 100 to 170 μSv/h, although on the river itself the RF remained within 18 μSv/h. We stopped at km 160, on a large and beautiful sand spit, and set up tents one and a half meters from the water. RF 18-20. We walked 48 km in a day.

5th day of the hike

The river is clean, beautiful, and there are good places from time to time. However, the dosimeter shows a level of 140-160 almost everywhere, and 12-14 μSv/h on the river and sandy beaches. 167th km: the river splits into 3 branches. 168th km: on the left there is an oak grove on the solid bank. RF 110. There are many beaches and oxbow lakes on the river.
172.6 km: a metal bridge, probably built for work to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. This bridge is not on the map. There is a checkpoint on the bridge (a large booth with a stove). This is a good place to park, and the checkpoint house can be used as a shelter from the rain and cold. RF in the vicinity of the bridge no more than 20 μSv/h. Below the bridge on the left bank there is a beautiful sandy cliff. On the contrary, on the right bank there is a huge sandy beach. RF on the beach is 11, on the cliff 46, and 20 meters away, in the nearest hollow, 176 μSv/h. On the left bank, a few hundred meters from the bridge, you can see the remains of what used to be the village of Besed. True, one house, closest to the bridge, has been preserved and now about 20 people with unknown social status live there. They have something like a commune there. 175th km: on the right is an oxbow lake, pine and oak trees, opposite the beach.
We entered Sozh at 181.5 km. On the Sozh there is a smooth current, our speed is on average 8.5 - 9.0 km/h. All the way to Gomel on Sozh there are many good sandy beaches, turning into a gently sloping shore and closed from the shore by a wall of willow bushes and trees. On one of these beaches, 6 km below the bridge of the P-30 highway, we stopped for the last night. Russian Federation on the beaches of the river. Coolant within 12 μSv/h.p

6th day of the hike.

The Sozh River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Belarus. Its length is 648 km, of which 155 km flows through the territory of Russia. It is the second largest after r. Pripyat. The width of its channel in the lower reaches is 230 m.

Basic data

The Sozh River originates in Russia on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, 12 km south of the city of Smolensk, and then flows through the territory of two Belarusian regions - Mogilev and Gomel. The drainage basin is asymmetrical and clearly defined, which is especially noticeable on the left bank.

The total catchment area is:

In Russia - 42140 km 2;

In Belarus - 21,700 km 2.

The coolant reaches 6 meters at a current speed that sometimes exceeds 1.5 m/s. As a result, in a section of the river near Gomel, the river carries about 200 cubic meters of water within one minute.

For the most part, the relief of the basin is represented by small hills, the height of which does not exceed 20 m. Some areas are separated by deep ravines and gullies. quite winding, which is especially noticeable near Slavgorod, where there is a rather large bend near the river.

Before Gomel, there are even sandy islands on the river, the length of which does not exceed 300 m and the width - 50 m. As for lakes, their area in the catchment area is less than 1%. In fact, these are separate mirror-like reservoirs, the area of ​​which does not exceed 1 km2.

Water level changes

The rise continues for half a month in the upper reaches and about a month in the lower reaches. The water level in the Sozh River begins to increase from the end of March. At the same time, the lowest water height is 4 m, and the highest is 7.5 m. Often in late spring or early summer, the water level can rise by several more meters as a result of prolonged rainfalls and floods, the duration of which sometimes exceeds one month.

The winter level increase is on average only a few tens of centimeters higher than the summer one and in most cases passes almost unnoticed.

The Sozh begins to freeze at the beginning of winter, and opens only in mid-spring, and this process begins from the mouth to the upper reaches. The average water temperature in the Sozh River in summer is 19-28°C.

origin of name

This river was the central river for the Eastern Slavs Radimichi. The influence of the Sozh River in the history of the Radimichi land should be considered through the prism of factors: the role of the Sozh in the socio-economic, political and spiritual life of people. Of course, Sozh’s role in socio-economic life was the greatest. The Sozh River was an integral part of the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Along the banks of the river and its tributaries, the Slavs founded their rural settlements and cities. Sozh was one of the main factors that influenced the emergence of Gomel.

Fishing

All kinds of fish are found in Sozh, but their numbers have been significantly affected by the increase in poaching and weather conditions, because as a result of a large number of floods, it is sometimes difficult for fish to enter Sozh to spawn.

After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Sozh River ceased to be used for industrial fishing, and the grass in it is no longer removed. As a result, the vegetation constantly rots, and the content of harmful substances in the water significantly increases, the last spawning areas and mass feeding areas of many fish species are destroyed.

Wide strips of sand stretch along the coastal areas along the entire length of the river. The bottom in the immediate vicinity is sandy, so both adults and children can swim in the river. In the area of ​​the urban village of Loev, the Sozh flows into the Dnieper, through which the greatest waterway from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea previously ran, known since ancient times as the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

The Sozh River is quite popular in Europe, as it covers the territory of three states at once - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Its total length is about 650 kilometers, and its catchment area is 42 thousand square kilometers. The Sozh is known not only as a reservoir of rich commercial value, but also as the location of a large number of sites of ancient people who carried out fishing in this territory. Due to its significant archaeological role, the river is of considerable interest among lovers of eco-tourism, both in summer and winter. Ice fishing is added to the winter activities of tourists, allowing them to count on rich catches of perch, bream, roach and other species of fish.

Peculiarities

The average annual water flow is usually measured near the city of Gomel, and it is about 210 cubic meters per second. The most famous settlements on the Sozh are the village of Radkevshchina and the settlement of Loev.

The river belongs to the water system of the great Dnieper, which, accordingly, connects with the Black Sea. In fact, Sozh is a unique reservoir, because not many water bodies manage to cover the territory of three regions at once. The river flows through the Gomel, Smolensk and Chernigov regions.

The shipping distance is 370 kilometers. The lock system that was once operational was destroyed during the war. Speaking about hydronyms, it should be remembered that the name comes from the word “shosh”, which is translated as “river”. Some scientists associate the name of the object with the Finnish “sushi”, which means wolf, but evidence of Finnish tribes living here has never been found.

With a channel width of about 230 meters, the depth of the river is close to six meters, and the flow speed sometimes reaches two meters per second. There are rifts and rapids in the shallows. The river is considered one of the cleanest in Europe.

Starting in Russia - twelve kilometers from Smolensk, for the most part it covers Belarus, rightly considered one of the most beautiful rivers of this state. In addition, this is the second largest tributary of the Dnieper.

The elephants are flattering and there are terraces that are clearly expressed in relief. The main coastal vegetation is reed, reeds and duckweed. The bottom is moderately swampy, which creates excellent conditions for the growth and reproduction of many species of fish.

Until the territory of Gomel, the river has beautiful sandy banks. An increase in water level and expansion of the coastal zone usually occurs in March. The freeze-up period, as a rule, is the period from late November to mid-April. It is known that Sozh is an integral part of the site - from the Varangians to the Greeks. It was on its coastal zone that the Slavic peoples actively founded villages, engaging in fishing. Unfortunately, after the emergency at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, the river was banned for safety reasons from being used for industrial fishing. As, indeed, the amount of fish resources has decreased significantly. However, even today there are places where you can catch a lot of roach, perch and carp. Also, the shore of a reservoir is a great place to organize a vacation in the lap of nature.

How to get there

The Sozh River flows through the Gomel, Smolensk and Chernigov regions, and to visit it you can choose any settlement in this territory. The most famous village on the shore is Radkevshchina.

The largest tributary of the Dnieper, which ranks second in terms of water content, is the Sozh, a river flowing from Russia through Belarus. It also has left and right tributaries - Pronya, Besed, Iput. The beginning of the river is in the Smolensk region. The river crosses different geomorphological regions of glacial origin. In the area of ​​the city of Loeva, the Sozh flows into the Dnieper.

Geographical position

So, one of the most amazing rivers flowing in the territory of the former Soviet Union begins its journey from the Smolensk-Moscow hill, 12 km south of Smolensk itself.

The Sozh River passes through two regions of Belarus: Gomel and Mogilev. Its total length is 648 kilometers. The upper reaches of the river belong to Russia, the length of which is 155 kilometers. The total drainage area of ​​the river is 42,140 km². Of these, the drainage area within Belarus is 21,700 km².

The Sozh River is not only beautiful, but also clean. It is cleaner than most rivers flowing in Europe. Its tributaries are mainly located within Belarus. So, Pronya has a length of 172 kilometers, Besed - 261 kilometers, Iput - 437 kilometers. The cities of Cherikov, Gomel, Krichev, Slavgorod, Vetka, Chechersk are majestically located on the banks of the Sozh.

The water artery of Belarus has a well-defined trapezoidal valley, with a depth of 20 to 30 m. In the Krichevsky region, the Sozh River has a width of 1.5 to 3 km, and over a fairly long distance. And in the Oster Valley, where the rivers join together, its width reaches 5 km. Having merged with the Besed River, the Sozh River continues to flow through the Polesie region of Belarus.

Its slopes are mostly moderately steep and gentle. Their height reaches 25 m. The banks of the river are rich in ravines, gullies and tributary valleys.

Shores

On the left bank of the described water stream there are mainly forests, on the right - open spaces and arable lands. The exposed areas of the valleys contain morgel-chalk rocks with flint raw materials. The river bed is winding, especially near Slavgorod. On the way to Gomel you can find sandy islands. The length of the islands is from 30 to 300 m.

If you move along the river to the mouth of the Pronya, the banks become steep, then flat, and below Slavgorod - steep.

In the lower reaches, the width of the channel reaches 230 m, and its depth is from 5 to 6 meters. The river flow speed can be more than 1.5 m/s.

Sozh has its own port - Gomel, and a branch of the Belarusian river shipping company is located here. The waterway serves as a river route for passenger and freight transport.

Level

Unfortunately, it happens that the level of the Sozh River rises so much that it floods nearby populated areas. For example, having risen to a level of 578 cm, the river flooded 118 farmsteads, and the Novobelitsky district of Gomel was considered the most affected. Only due to the fact that the foundations of private houses are very high, water did not get inside the home. But the gardens were flooded. Polevaya Street suffers the most when the water level in the Sozh River rises in these places. Rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations are forced to be constantly on duty here, and some residents find themselves literally cut off from civilization. Residents are being taken out of flooded areas by boat.

The rise in river levels continues for up to two weeks in the upper reaches and up to one month in the lower reaches of the river. The smallest height is 4 meters, and the largest is 7.5 meters. If there are prolonged downpours, the likelihood of the level increasing increases. Especially if such a period lasts more than a month.

Relief

The river valley is characterized by the presence of relief, fairly well-defined, through terraces: one floodplain and two above the floodplain. They are of considerable length. At Loev the Sozh flows into the mighty and wide Dnieper.

The relief of the river is unique, and a large number of small tributaries flowing into the Sozh save it from drought during hot summers by filling it with water. Many small tributaries become a source of water replenishment for the Sozh River during the hottest time of summer. Sandy shores can be observed below the town of Vetka. This is where the sandy beaches are located.

On the right, the Sozh has tributaries of the Vikhru, Uzu, Volchas, and Pronya rivers. On the left - Khmaru, Iput, Oster, Ut, Besed. Along its length the river has many meanders and small sedge islands. In winter, the ice on the river can be up to 60 centimeters thick. In the spring - from mid-March, less often in early April - the flood begins. It can last up to 25 days (minimum 10 days).

Fish and its prey

Fishing is carried out almost throughout the entire river. The water expanses of Sozh are rich in perch, roach, pike, pike perch, and bream. Here you can catch tench, golden crucian carp, perch, Ukrainian lamprey, chub and silver bream.

Of course, the Sozh River, whose temperature in summer reaches 22 °C, and in August can reach 28 °C, is attractive for tourists and the local population.

And this is despite the fact that some part of the river passes through Chernobyl - the zone of the great disaster. Here the water is contaminated with radionuclides.

On average, water at the mouth is consumed in an amount of 19 m³/sec, and the average slope of the river water surface is 0.17%. The middle course of the river falls on the Orsha-Mogilev Plain. During the flood period, spring, more than half (57%) of the annual river water flow occurs. Ice drift, which begins in March, usually lasts from three to five days.

For the Eastern Slavs - the Radimichi - the Sozh was the central river. In their history, it played a political, socio-economic and spiritual role. It was Sozh that played a decisive role in the development of the city of Gomel. The river was part of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks."