Salgir in Crimea: description of the river, its location

One of the longest rivers in Crimea is the river called Salgir. This river originates in the Crimean mountains. The length of the channel is about 232 kilometers.

According to historians, the name of the river is of Tavrian, pre-Tatar, Indo-Aryan origin. Translated from the Turkic language, "salgir" means "male name". Also, many researchers argue that the name of the river has Circassian roots, because "sal" means "tributary", and "gir" is translated as "water". It should be noted that today several names are known that are used for this river. For example, this is Salgir Baba, Salgir the father.

The largest waterway of Crimea originates on the slopes of the mountain range, which is located in the southern part of the Crimean mountains and is called Chatyr-Dag.

There are several versions of where Salgir originates. According to one version, Salgir flows out of the longest cave of the peninsula - Kizil-Koba. But some local historians are also of the opinion that the river "starts" at the Angarsk pass.

This river flows into Lake Sivash. It is this body of water that separates the peninsula from the mainland. Moreover, it should be noted that Salgir crosses almost the entire Central Crimea.

In total, about 14 tributaries flow out of the Salgir, and the total length of the river together with its tributaries, according to some data, is about 900 km. One of the high-water left tributaries of the river. Salgir is Ayan. It is on this tributary that a reservoir was built, which provides the city of Simferopol with water resources. The area of ​​this reservoir is 3.5 m².

The Biyuk-Karasu river is also one of the large right-hand tributaries of the Salgir. Its length is 86 km. Translated from the Turkic language, it means “big black water”. This is the name of the rivers that come out of the earth as springs.

As tributaries of the river. Salgir, other rivers of the Crimea are also known. These are Kuchuk-Karasu, as well as Maly Salgir, Kurtsy, Tavel, Zuya, Besh-Terek. The river also has a lot of tributaries in the form of small streams, which completely dry up in the summer.

If we turn to history, then in the book "Guide to Crimea" by Maria Sosnogorova, which was published in the pre-revolutionary period, there is the following entry: "... Salgir ... bursts out ... in a stream ...".

Also, some information and a description of the main characteristics of this river are presented in the "Economic and geographical description of the Ak-Mosque and the district" as of 1798. From these data, it follows that the Salgir River was previously considered full-flowing and capable of overflowing in spring and summer to a width of up to 700 meters. Thus, during floods, this river posed a threat to the inhabitants of settlements located on its banks.

It is also worth noting that namely p. Salgir was an extremely reliable defense for one of the most famous Scythian fortresses in the Ancient Crimea - Scythian Naples. In ancient times, this city was also the capital of the late Scythian state. Salgir also acted as a defensive line in 1777, when the camp of the outstanding Russian commander, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, was located on one of the banks of the river.

As we have already noted, Salgir is the main water artery of the Crimean Peninsula. Therefore, this river can be safely called one of the main sources of fresh water, which is necessary to ensure the life of the people living on the peninsula.

On hot summer days, the shores of Salgir are a favorite vacation spot for both local residents and visiting tourists. The following large settlements are located on this river today: the city of Simferopol, town. Gresovsky, located 8 kilometers from the previous metropolis, town. Gvardeyskoe - the center of the Gvardeisky rural settlement, with. Amurskoe.

It is this river that provides the peninsula with water and participates in the operation of the Simferopol TPP, which, in turn, satisfies about 40% of the city's general demand for heat energy in Simferopol, and also feeds such nearby villages as Gresovsky, Komsomolsky and others.

In ancient times, Salgir, overflowing, washed away the village buildings with seething streams and became the cause of the death of people. Today this river is shallow and safe. The Salgir River is part of the irrigation system for agricultural land in the Crimea, provides water to most of the agricultural enterprises in the central part of the Crimean peninsula. On the banks of the Salgir are fruit orchards and vineyards. Thus, the river found its economic use.

The Salgir River is both raging streams, and a calm river surface, and water "chained" in the urban massif. Her character is seething and unpredictable. In the upper part, Salgir is very restless. On this stretch, you can find waterfalls and a rough type of current. This site is a typical mountain river.

In the steppe part, the river is quiet, it smoothly descends towards the plain, where it joins with the basin of Lake Sivash. This area is subject to severe drying out during the hot summer period.

A significant part of Salgir flows within the city of Simferopol. She seems to divide this metropolis into two parts.

But on the embankment there are a lot of cafes and restaurants, as well as places for families with children, so in the evening you can always walk along the banks of the Salgir, which is "imprisoned" in a concrete city.

The main source of water for the Salgir River is rain and melt water, but this river also receives a fairly large volume of water from underground sources. If we look at the change in the water level in Salgir, we will note that the most full-flowing period is from the end of February to May.

The Salgir River is famous for its numerous natural attractions. This, for example, is the most picturesque and mesmerizing Kizil-Koba cave. This red cave is considered one of the largest on the territory of the peninsula. According to scientists, the cave was formed about 2.5 million years ago.

Also in the Salgir river basin there are caves named Chokurcha and Yeni-Sala. (known as the most mysterious and mystical cave of Crimea), as well as the Karasu-Bashi tract and the Wolf grotto. For example, the Chokurcha cave is considered one of the sites of the primitive man. It was in it that the remains of an ancient man - a Neanderthal man - were found back in Soviet times.

Also, visitors can always enjoy excellent fishing. Crucian carp is found in the river, but carp and carp are less common here. Avid fishermen also say that in the waters of Salgir you can catch a mullet, and from predators - perch and pike. But in the upper reaches of the river sometimes trout swims.

It is believed that this plant is about 600 years old. The trunk girth of the "old man" is 6.22 meters, and its height is 30 m.

Recently, there has been a rather difficult situation with the ecological situation in the Salgir river basin. Most of the coastline is very heavily polluted, and the water condition is poor. Therefore, one of the main problems of the authorities at the present time is the adoption of measures to improve this situation.

After all, if you do not improve the ecology in the river basin, and do not take effective measures, then it is quite possible to lose an excellent and picturesque place where you can have a great time and relax with friends, having a picnic in the fresh air. We also note that this waterway was repeatedly immortalized in the poems of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

It has been rumored for a long time that the Salgir River stores in its waters a lot of precious metals, especially gold. Therefore, attempts have been made to search for this metal in the waters of Salgir more than once. However, gold mining in these places was not crowned with success. As one of the legends says, there was once a young khan. He found a cave at the foot of Chatyr-Dag, where there was a lot of gold.

The man began to collect gold, but the thirst for profit consumed him so much that, fearing to lose his prey, he pounced on the little girl and beat her to death with a whip.

But nature took revenge on the greedy khan for this act. At the same hour, the walls of the cave collapsed, burying alive under them both the gold and the greedy and insatiable khan. Since then, gold in Crimea has disappeared. The last attempt to extract gold in Salgir falls on the years of the Great Patriotic War, when the Crimea was occupied by German invaders.

But the main feature or even the secret of this waterway of Crimea is that no one even now can say exactly where the Salgir originates from, and where it ends its course. Its source has not yet been determined, and the flow regime is very wayward.

For a video review of the Salgir River, see the next video.