Everything about Lake Sivash

There are bodies of water that cannot be described in a few words, presented with a series of even the most talented photographs, displayed in one film, so that the idea of ​​them is complete and exhaustive. For example, those that virtually everyone has heard of, and which do not need special advertising. And if you say the Volga, you mean - majestic, if Baikal is incredible, and all are completely outstanding, legendary, special places. As the saying goes, they are easy to love and read.

There are also reservoirs that do not collect such enthusiastic reviews, and you often need to take a closer look at them. But then a special charm, charm and ambiguity of the first perception opens up. Lake Sivash is one of them.

The first written mentions of the lake date back to the first century AD - Strabo, a Roman author, calls the lake Sivash the Rotten Sea and describes it in some detail. In the second century, the reservoir was already mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, but on his map he captures the lake with minor errors.

Although, perhaps, there is no error: some historians believe that if two millennia ago the level of the Black Sea was different from the present, so what can we say about the lake.

What kind of pond is this - let's figure it out.

To be precise in the definitions, then Sivash (the name comes from the Crimean Tatar word, which means "mud") is a bay located in the west of the Sea of ​​Azov.

This bay separates the Crimean peninsula from the mainland. Since 2014, a new section of the Russian-Ukrainian water border, the length of which is 146 km, passes through the water area of ​​the lake.

The area of ​​the lake is 2560 square kilometers.

Since Sivash is a shallow body of water, in summer, the water in the lake warms up significantly, which leads to the formation of a putrid odor... Hence the name - Rotten sea... By the way, for the same reason, there is an active evaporation of sea water, which is fraught with a strong mineralization of the Sivash.

Those who travel with the aim of seeing (capturing on film, studying) the most interesting reservoirs of Russia must register in the Crimea point, where their eyes simply diverge from the number of places that must be seen: from the Kalamitsky Bay (they are often confused, calling the Klaysky Bay) to the same Sivash.

But only two are distinguished from them - Western and Eastern Sivash.

The first one attracts more attention, its length from west to east is 70 km, it connects the two Sivash with the shallow and narrow Chongar Strait.

The Sivash system itself is quite complex: the combination of water and land cannot be called simple - numerous peninsulas and islands are interspersed with stretches, straits and even bays. The lake complex, as already noted, is shallow: the largest depth of the reservoir barely reaches 3 m, and generally 0.5-1 m - this is its most frequent depth.

All tourists are primarily interested in the current state of the lake, and not in references to it in ancient sources (although this is also interesting). Well, the Sivash is a shallow basin isolated from the sea, which means that he is the lagoon of the Azov Sea.

The water in this lagoon is both bitter and salty: algae rot there, which is why the smell from the water is far from pleasant. Hydrogen sulfide is clearly guessed in it.

In calm weather with clear water, you can easily see the muddy bottom almost anywhere in the lagoon. Salt has penetrated even into the soil, because the shores of the Sivash cannot be called teeming with life.

You cannot see green grass, especially trees and other lush vegetation. Instead, gray wormwood, sullen kermek and hodgepodge: only they do not care about salt and heat.

The concentration of salts in the waters of the Sivash is seriously higher than in the Black and Azov Seas, and almost 17 times. This mineralized water is called brine.

Is this good or bad? If you are an explorer or just a nature lover, then You will like Sivash - it can be called a real natural laboratory, where mineral salts accumulate in an interesting way.

And scientists have found out exactly how this happens: about 1000 mm of water evaporate from a centimeter of the square water surface of the lake per year. And precipitation falls only 300 mm.

There is also information that the total amount of moisture evaporated by Sivash per year is equal to almost half of the entire mass of water in it. You don't need to be a scientist to understand: if Sivash has not yet disappeared from the face of the earth, if the amount of water in it is nevertheless practically constant, this means that water is constantly coming from outside.

And it comes, as it turns out, from the Sea of ​​Azov through the Genichesky Strait.

This is a liman, closed lake, where hundreds of clips and films could be filmed, since the place is unique in its natural beauty.

Such a "glamorous" color is given to the reservoir by an unusual alga called Dunaliella, which secretes about three dozen carotenoids, the most valuable of which can be considered beta-carotene.

How much beta-carotene is in the brine, the lake will have such a rich color: from pinkish to bright red.

Everyone knows that many southern reservoirs are distinguished by pronounced healing properties.

And Sivash, in the name of which the word "dirt" is guessed when translated, is in itself associated with treatment, restoration, healing power.

Mud procedures are also advised for those who have problems with the musculoskeletal system, who know firsthand about arthritis, arthrosis, osteochondrosis.

Someone will like the information that You can stock up on medicinal mud: they will not take money for collecting it.

Both the mud itself and the brine have healing properties.

• Brine. It contains elements that are considered natural liver cell cleansers. It is for this reason that people bathing in Sivash drunk come out of it pretty sober. It's still not worth checking on yourself, but an interesting fact. If you believe the responses (and there are a lot of them), then the effect of brine on the musculoskeletal system of the human body is really great. Someone had receded, the old osteochondrosis was significantly softened, some old injuries of bones and joints ceased to hurt. People come here to get rid of dermatological diseases, and many succeed in this.
• Therapeutic mud... You won't have to look for her for a long time. The top layer of the healing mud is gray, because there is a contact of light and air. But it is possible to use not only gray clay, because the black healing mud, which is located deeper, is truly healing. By the way, the Sivash therapeutic mud has a reputation for healing not because of intrusive unreasonable advertising: it has passed the necessary clinical studies, is certified, and it is really possible to be treated with it.

But it is impossible to say about the development of infrastructure in the zone of this lake.

For tourists, this interesting area is still being improved, in connection with which many travelers come here as savages, live in tents.

The climate and soil characteristics dictate their conditions to the flora and fauna of the Sivash region. In particular, they attract birds to the winter quarters, and what kind of birds! A relict little bustard was seen here, which was previously seen only in the Azov steppes. Galagaz flies here from the salt lakes of Europe and Asia. Interestingly, pheasants have recently been bred on these islands.

Local plants, as already mentioned, are not impressive in wealth, although depending on what we are talking about. For example, every botanist (and just an interested tourist) will be interested in visiting the Kalinovskiy landscape park. It is located in the Dzhankoy region near the village of Transparent: its area is 12,000 hectares. It was created specifically for the preservation of wetlands.

On the park territory, natural associations of different steppes of Crimea grow - both zonal-desert, and sod-cereal, and pale-forb.

The fauna of the park is also curious: there you can see cormorants, gulls, sandpipers. In total, about one and a half hundred birds live in the territories belonging to the reserve, including the yellow heron, white-tailed eagle, steppe crane and others.

By the way, Shatilov's estate was recently restored in the village... It hosts exhibitions of contemporary artists and offers unique night tours.

By the light of numerous candles, guests stroll around the estate, admire the creations of the Crimean painters.

To understand how to build a route, you need to find out which settlements are as close as possible to Sivash. These are: Dzhankoy, Saki, Evpatoria, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Genichesk, Novoalekseevka.

You can get there in different ways.

1. Own car: driving from Simferopol along the M-17, E-105 highways. The closest to the capital of Crimea Evpatoria, the stop is called Sasyk-Sivash.
2. Any bus which is moving towards the border with Ukraine. If you are going to rest as a savage, then during the bus journey you will see places suitable for this purpose.And if a wild vacation is not for you, there are sanatoriums and boarding houses in the area, but you should take care of the places in them in advance.
3. Electric trains running from Dzhankoy and Novoolekseevka. There is direct transport to the Salt Lake. The train schedule can be seen in the courtyard of the railway station in Simferopol.

Probably the most beautiful place in this territory is the Arabat Spit.

On the one hand - the Sea of ​​Azov, on the other - healing springs.

On the Crimean peninsula there are so many interesting, unique, and often underestimated places, the names of which even the residents of the nearest territories confuse (as, for example, the town of Shchelkino is called Shchelkovo).

Someone brings from Crimea only tan and wine, someone else - unique photos and videos of local lakes, worthy of everyone's attention.

Sasyk-Sivash, the same Pink Lake, is also known for its salt production. And this salt is valuable not only for its taste. Its composition is rich in macro- and microelements, including calcium, sodium chloride.

Crimean salt has been known for a long time, there are even documents of its international level: and they date back to 1912, when this product took first place at the world exhibition.

The pink composition is better absorbed, does not lead to edema, removes toxins, flushes out excess water, strengthens the immune system. Salt is rich in iodine, therefore its reasonable use helps to normalize hormonal levels in both men and women.

Just imagine: unusual, unique lakes with healing water, salt, mud, as well as stunning landscapes and the possibility of wild recreation surrounded by impressive Crimean nature. And such a vacation can be budgetary and memorable: it means you have to go!

You can learn about the healing mud of the lake from the video below.