Dnieper rapids
The Dnieper rapids also known as cataracts of the Dnieper, were the historical rapids on the Dnieper river in Ukraine, caused by outcrops of granites, gneisses and other types of bedrock of the Ukrainian Shield. The rapids began below the present-day city of Dnipro, where the river turns to the south, and dropped 50 meters in 66 kilometers, ending before the present-day city of Zaporizhzhia.
There were nine major rapids, about 30–40 smaller rapids and 60 islands and islets. The rapids almost totally obstructed the navigation of the river.
After the Dnieper [Hydroelectric Station] was built at Zaporizhzhia in 1932, the rapids were inundated by the Dnieper Reservoir.
Historical mentions
The Dnieper rapids were part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century. On the Dnieper the travelers had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.The rapids was mentioned in Emperor Constantine VII's work De Administrando Imperio and in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.
Names of the major rapids
In Ukrainian tradition, there were 9 major rapids :- Kodatskyi porih. The Kodak Fortress formerly stood near this rapid.
- Surskyi porih. Almost all the rocks of this rapid were submerged in shallow water.
- Lokhanskyi porih
- Dzvonetskyi porih
- Nenasytetskyi porih, or Nenasytets or Revuchyi, the biggest and most dangerous of the rapids, called Peklo by the locals, 2.4 km long and over 1 km wide. Its roaring could be heard several kilometers away.
- Vovnyzkyi porih
- Budylskyi porih
- Lyshnii porih. This name is most likely because it was the least dangerous, posing almost no problems for navigation.
- Vilnyi porih
Correspondence of some of the names from different historical sources is seen in the table below: