The Danube is an international river. All about the Danube River and its photographs The Danube passes through which countries

Today I will not torment you with stories about European cities, but will tell you about the largest river in the European Union - the Danube, and, of course, I will supplement this story with photographs.

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe (after the Volga) and the longest river in the European Union. The length of the river is 2960 kilometers, and the basin area is 817,000 km².

The source of the river is located in Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg in a mountain range called the Black Forest, which means “black forest” in German. Further, the Danube flows or is the border of ten countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. In addition, the Danube basin covers the territories of nine more European countries. The Danube flows into the Black Sea, forming a delta in Romania and Ukraine. The Romanian part of this delta is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in Germany, the Danube is connected to the North Sea.

Large cities located on the Danube:

• Regensburg - Germany
• Passau - Germany
• Linz - Austria
• Vienna, Austria
• Vukovar - Croatia
• Bratislava - Slovakia
• Budapest, Hungary
• Belgrade - Serbia
• Ruse - Bulgaria
• Vidin - Bulgaria
• Braila - Romania
• Galati - Romania
• Izmail - Ukraine

Although the Danube originates in the mountains, for most of its length it is flat and is a navigable river. The river freezes only in cold weather for a maximum of 1.5 - 2 months. And in the spring there are sometimes floods. For example, in 2013, some cities located on the river were severely flooded, Passau was especially affected. In honor of floods in cities, marks are drawn on the walls of buildings to indicate how high the water has risen.

The river is also important for fishing: it is home to more than 60 species of fish, including various types of sturgeon.

The waterways on the river are suitable for sailing vessels with a maximum size of 110x11.45 m. Naturally, you can go on cruises along the Danube. Most Danube cruises start in Germany in the city of Passau and pass through the cities that line the river. The price of such cruises varies depending on the length of the route, time of year, and the number of stars of river cruise ships. For approximately a 10-day tour you will pay $1500-4500 per person. It's not that expensive, considering that you don't need to spend time and money on travel between cities, on hotels, and on food - all this is included in the cost of cruises.

Now I will show photographs of cities I have been to that are located on the Danube.

From the city of Passau, as I already said, a large number of cruises depart. The city is also significant because three rivers converge here in one place: the Danube, the Inn and the Ilts.

In the Austrian city of Linz you can also take a walk along the Danube and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the river.

In addition to Linz, other Austrian cities are located on the Danube, including Vienna. The photo shows the embankment in Vienna, from where you can take boats to Bratislava.

The castle in Bratislava offers an interesting view of the SNP Bridge. The bridge is significant in that it is single-pylon and its length is 430 meters. There is a restaurant on top of the bridge pier at an altitude of 85 meters.

I think that the Danube looks most beautiful in Budapest. There are beautiful embankments and stunning architecture.

At night, the illuminated bridges across the Danube look magical, and the coolness of the river attracts crowds of tourists and young people to the embankment.

In terms of length, it is inferior to the Volga, since the length of the Danube is 670 km shorter, but it is ahead of the leader in internationality. It is not for nothing that this artery belongs to neutral waters, because how can one divide a flow that penetrates 10 European countries, and, together with the basin, covers 19 countries. And further, the Danube never ceases to amaze with the number of capitals and large cities, tributaries and shipping canals. And the delta of the “Big Water” - as the ancient Celtic tribes called the river - is under the protection of UNESCO and is a biosphere reserve.

Pseudo beginning and real origin

This place, where the Danube River supposedly originates, is marked by a round rotunda around a reservoir in the German town of Donaueschingen. Although many call this place a false source, and point to the place where the true beginning of the artery is located in the Black Forest mountains. It is formed by the confluence of 3 streams near Hüfingen.

One of them, called Breg, flowing from the mentioned town, connects with the stream Brigach. A couple of kilometers later, near Baden-Württemberg, they are joined by a third stream. The confluence of these small rivers is considered to be the source of the largest water artery of the European Union. Literally 30 km from this point, the river disappears from the surface into the bowels of the earth, and flows through cracks and craters in the rocks. Not so long ago, in 1877, researchers managed to discover a connection between the most powerful European Aach Spring and the Danube. As it turns out, the international river feeds this source with its underground flow.

However, in tourist routes there are points marked as the beginning of the greatest Danube river on the map of Europe. These are the places where the Breg stream and its “half-brother” Brigach originated.

How are the upper, middle and lower reaches differentiated?

From its source in Germany to its delta, the direction of the river changes. It makes the first bend near Regensourg, the second not far from Passau. From here to the Hungarian town of Genyu, which is considered the end of the Upper Danube, the river flows in one direction. The second part, the Middle Danube, flows without bends, giving way near the Iron Gate to the Lower Danube, which stretches to the very mouth. This is a conditional division of the river bed into 3 parts according to the nature of the flow.

From its source to almost the Austrian capital, the Danube carries its waters like a mountain river. Flowing down steep slopes and seeping into a narrow valley between the Alps and the Bohemian Massif, the flow of the largest European artery shows a restless character. Despite the fact that the flow is not wide until the town of Ulm - in the range from 20 to 80 meters - the water speed is above 2.8 m/s. Further, in some places it expands to 300 meters. On the upper section of the Danube, barriers, dikes and dams are a common occurrence.

The part of the channel from Genyu to the gorge, which is called the Iron Gate, is considered the middle flow. The stream spreads across the Middle Danube Plain to a width of 5 to 20 km. Passing through mountain ranges, the Danube forms small valleys. The river narrows and does not exceed 150 m, but the depth increases to 20 m. The exception is the Kazane gorge with a maximum depth of 70 m.

The name Lower Danube Plain speaks for itself. This section of the current starts from the Iron Gate and stretches all the way to the mouth. Here the water artery turns into a floodplain valley, the width of which varies between 10-20 km, and branches into numerous channels and branches. But the depth in the lower reaches is small - only 5 - maximum 7 m.

Estuary – the place where a river meets the sea

The delta of the main water artery of the European Union has again given way to the Volga. Its area is only 4152 m2. The main part - 3446 m2 - of the Danube Delta is located geographically in Romania. This is 83% of the total area, the remaining 17% belongs to Ukraine. The size of the area is affected by the siltation of river channels and the emergence of others, so it is constantly changing.

The Danube estuary has marshy soil and is penetrated by a network of small lakes and small rivers. Its peak is located at the cape called Izmailovsky Catal on the territory of Romania. The main channel of the river is divided into several branches. First it turns into the Kiliya and Tulchinskoe arms. The latter is further transformed into the Sulinskoye and Georgievskoye, which in turn form small secondary deltas. The Kiliya estuary is located on Ukrainian territory and is considered the fastest flowing.

The river flows into the Black Sea through 3 main branches:

• Kiliya;
• Georgievsky;
• Suli.

Most of the Danube delta is occupied by floodplains, which are slightly smaller in size than the Volga. The entire landscape was placed under UNESCO protection back in 1991. A significant part of the mouth is included in the biosphere reserve, which territorially belongs to Ukraine. The main threat to protected areas is the shipping canals belonging to Ukraine and Romania.

An ordinary geographical map of the Danube does not convey the wealth of flora and fauna that the river possesses. Populations of birds, rodents, rare reptiles and other animals live along the riverbed. The river itself is home to 45 species of fish, and in the delta you can see reed beds. In addition to reeds and algae, on the Middle and Lower Danube all summer you can observe the blooming of water lilies of various types.

Tributaries of the Danube

The area of ​​the Danube basin is 817 thousand km2. The hydrographic network is formed from 300 water streams, 120 of which are tributaries, and covers 19 European countries.

In addition to the 10 countries where the channel passes, this includes the lands:

• Italy and Switzerland;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Macedonia and Montenegro;
• Czech Republic and Albania;
• Slovenia and Poland.

The adjacent water arteries spread unevenly, causing the pool area to be asymmetrical. The main number of streams is concentrated in the Carpathian and Alpine foothills, but in the Hungarian lowland their number is small.

Almost all tributaries of the Danube are navigable. The largest of them:

• Isar;
• Tisa;
• Iller (Iler);
• Drava;
• Sava;
• Morava;
• Siret;
• Gron;
• Rod.

The main European artery has large branches extending from the main flow over a 10-kilometer distance. They're called:

• Moshonsky;
• Shorosharsky;
• Small Danube;
• Duneria-Veche;
• Borcha.

At the beginning of the journey, the full flow of the Danube is ensured by German mountain streams, then it is replenished by both tributaries and snow, groundwater, rain and melting glaciers.

Danube River on the map

The ancient Greeks called the largest European river Ister and believed that it divides Europe in half, and flows into the Pont Euxine (the modern Black Sea) with 7 branches. Considering the full flow of the river, they were not mistaken, because the length of the Danube is 2860 km, and the delta consists of more than one arm.

The Danube on the map of Europe is not only the greatest transport artery, but also an interstate divider. It is a natural state border, flowing between gloomy Romania and sunny Bulgaria, where it has the greatest extent, and partly Moldova. In addition to them, the river penetrates:

• territories of Austria and Germany;
• lands of Hungary and Croatia;
• sections of Ukraine, Serbia and Slovakia.

On both sides of the “Big Water” there are large ports and 4 capitals:

• Austrian Vienna;
• Budapest in Hungary, divided by a river into 2 parts;
• Bratislava in Slovakia;
• Belgrade in Serbia.

The Danube River also serves as an outlet for Europe, since access to the North Sea has become possible through its canals. In addition, the main European artery is navigable 10 months a year. During the cold season, the river is given a 2-month vacation due to weather conditions, and even then not every year. If the winter is warm, then the Danube does not stand idle.

According to the Treaty of Paris of 1856, the river has international status. Commercial and passenger ships can navigate it without restrictions. When it comes to warships, there are some rules to follow. The fleet of non-Danubian states is prohibited from moving along the river bed, and ships of adjacent countries can sail outside their own water space only with the permission of their neighbors.

It is disappointing that Europe's largest river has often become the subject of political controversy in recent years. The Danube on the map of Ukraine flows little, but with a lot of water and a high-speed flow. Due to siltation, the delta area is constantly shifting and giving rise to new interstate disputes. Romania is actively laying claim to Ukrainian lands, especially those where the Danube arm is located.

Danube River(the ancient name of the Ister) on its way from its source in Germany to its mouth in the Black Sea flows through the territory of 10 countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine. The fate of many European states was decided on its shores.

Where does it leak: The Danube is formed by the confluence of the Breg and Brigach rivers, near the city of Dronauesching in Germany at an altitude of 678 m. It is the second largest river in Europe after the Volga. On its banks are located such European capitals as Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade. In Romania it flows into the Black Sea to form a large delta. Even in ancient times, the Danube served as a transponder artery. And with the advent of shipping, its economic importance is constantly increasing. Through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, completed in 1992, the Black Sea is connected to the North Sea.
Danube length: 2,860 kilometers.
Drainage basin area: 817,000 km. square.
Water consumption: 6400 cubic meters/cm.

Delta area: 4152 km. square.

Tributaries of the Danube: Iller, Lech, Isar, Inn, Ens, Morava, Raba, Vag, Gron, Ipel, Drava, Tisa, Sava, Morava, Iskar, Siret, Prut.
Biological resources: beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, herring, catfish, carp, bream, pike perch, sterlet, rudd, crucian carp, perch, gudgeon, pike, burbot and some others. Intensive use of the river has disrupted the ecological balance and the number of fish in the Danube has decreased significantly. Other environmental problems can also be added here: the drying out of floodplain forests, the extinction of animals that traditionally lived on the banks of the river.

Danube River regime

Feeding method: The Danube has different power sources. The main source of water is melted snow from the mountains. Rainwater and groundwater also play an important role.
Freezing: The flood occurs in spring and summer, from late February to August. The Danube has the least water in September and October. The river does not freeze every year (in January-February).

Danube on the map:

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Video. A short film about the Danube:

Nature of the Danube, film:

The Danube River flows through the territory of 10 European countries, namely: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine. Among the rivers of Europe, it is second only in length and water content.

In addition to the above 10 countries, the Danube drainage basin is in contact with the territories of nine more European countries. In Romania and Ukraine, the Danube River at the point of contact with the Black Sea coast has formed a very extensive delta. Moreover, the Romanian part of this delta is so picturesque that it was included by UNESCO in the list of world-class attractions.

Where is the real source of the Danube?

There is a round rotunda in the German town of Donaueschingen. Someone claims that the Danube River originates at this place.
But many disagree with this statement and point to a place in the Black Forest mountains. According to the second version, the Danube is born by the confluence of 3 streams near Hüfingen.

One of these streams, called Breg, flows from the mentioned town and connects with the stream Brigach, consonant with its name. After another couple of kilometers near Baden-Württemberg, they are joined by a third stream, whose name I do not know.

Merger of Breg and Brigach.

But already 30 km from the confluence of these small rivers, the Danube River disappears! It is not on the surface, it goes into the bowels of the earth in the town of Immendingen (Germany). In fact, the river flows through cracks and craters in the rocks. Only in 1877 were researchers able to establish for certain that the water, after some distance, again came to the surface 12 km to the south. This place was previously called the Aach spring, from here the Danube River continues its movement across the expanses of Europe. By the way, those researchers found a very simple way to determine the flow of the Danube River in 1877 - they dissolved salt in water near Immendingen, and were convinced that after that the water in the Aach spring also became salty.

However, in tourist guides there are also points from which the Breg stream and its “half-brother Brigach” flow, also designated as the beginning of the greatest river Danube.

Current of the Danube River

The total length of the Danube River is 2960 km. Many large cities, including the capitals of some countries, are naturally located on the shores of this waterway in Europe. Along the Danube bed there are:

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• Vienna, capital of Austria;
• the city of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia;
• the capital of Hungary, Budapest;
• the capital of Slavakia is the city of Bratislava.

The annual water flow in the river is 6700 m³/s. Slope 0.237 m/km. The Danube is a fairly branched river, with a large number of branches and tributaries. The river receives its main nutrition from the Alps and the Carpathian mountain system. Small mountain streams bring their water to this large artery.

The annual amplitude of water level fluctuations is from 4-5 meters. In winter, the average temperature in the river areas ranges from -1 to -5 degrees Celsius. In summer it rises to +20 °C. Strong cold winds blow almost constantly on the Danube. Air masses reach these areas from the Atlantic and western Asia. The wind speed can reach 30 m/s, which can even change the direction of the river flow to the opposite for some time.

The Danube freezes only at very low temperatures and for a short period of time. This is due to the large river flow.

The Danube River flows into the Black Sea.

Upper, middle and lower reaches

The direction of the river changes several times. The river makes its first bend near Regensourg, the second not far from Passau.

Danube at Passau

It is believed that the Upper Danube flows to the Hungarian town of Genyu, then the Middle Danube begins. From Passau to Genho the channel goes in one direction.

Middle Danube

The second part, the Middle Danube, flows without bends, giving way near the Iron Gate to the Lower Danube, which stretches to the very mouth. This is a conditional division of the river bed into 3 parts according to the nature of the flow.

From its source to almost Vienna, the Danube is more of a mountain river. Here the river, flowing down steep slopes, breaks into a narrow valley between the Bohemian massif and the Alps, and its flow exhibits a restless character. In view of this, in the upper reaches of the Danube along the banks, fences, dikes and dams are a frequent occurrence.

In its middle course, the river spreads across the Central Danube Plain. The total width of its branches reaches from 5 to 20 km. The Danube forms small valleys as it passes through mountain ranges. The river narrows, its width does not exceed 150 m, but its depth increases to 20 m. In the Kazan gorge the depth is maximum and is 70 m.

The name Lower Danube Plain speaks for itself. This section starts from the Iron Gate and stretches all the way to the mouth. The width of the floodplain varies between 10-20 km, and branches into numerous channels and branches. In the lower reaches, the river depth decreases significantly to an average of 5 m.

Mouth of the Danube

The delta of the main waterway gave way again. Its area is 4152 km2. The main part of the Danube Delta is located in Romania (3446 km2 or 83% of the area). The remaining 17% belongs to Ukraine. The size of the delta area is constantly changing, which is influenced by siltation of channels and the emergence of others.

The soil at the mouth of the Danube is marshy, the territory is penetrated by a network of small lakes and small rivers. The main channel of the river is divided into several branches. First it turns into the Kiliya and Tulchinskoe arms. The latter is further transformed into the Sulinskoye and Georgievskoye, which in turn form small secondary deltas. The Kiliya estuary is located on Ukrainian territory; it is considered the fastest flowing.

The river flows into the Black Sea through 3 main branches:

• Kiliya;
• Georgievsky;
• Suli.

Most of the Danube Delta is occupied by. The entire landscape was placed under UNESCO protection in 1991. On the territory of Ukraine there is a biosphere reserve, which includes a significant part of the Danube delta. The main threat to conservation areas is the Ukrainian and Romanian shipping canals.

The extreme point of the Danube Delta is located in Ukraine on the island of Ankudinov. Oddly enough, the length of the Danube River begins from here, i.e. The Danube is measured from end to beginning, and not vice versa.

Shoroksharsky Danube

Borcha.

Moreover, if in the first two branches the source indicators range from 1642 to 1868 km, then in the last one it is only 371 km.

Nature

An ordinary geographical map of the Danube does not convey the wealth of flora and fauna that the river possesses.
Populations of birds, rodents, rare reptiles and other animals live along the riverbed. The river is home to 45 species of fish, and in the delta you can even see reed beds. In addition to the traditional reeds and algae, on the Middle and Lower Danube you can observe the blooming of water lilies of various types throughout the summer.

Mention

The first mentions of the Danube known to science are found in the texts of the ancient historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. The Father of History, as he was called, wrote that the river Ister (Danube in ancient Greek) originates in the land of the Celts and crosses the center of Europe.

The Istra delta is located in the Evsksinskypont region (Black Sea), and contains seven branches. The current name - Danube - was given, apparently, by the Celts who lived in these territories. It is known that Emperor Trajan ordered the construction of a stone bridge over the Danube in 105 AD.

This one of the largest rivers in Europe is also the ancestral home of the birth of civilization. The Danube is the sacred river of the Slavs. It is often mentioned in songs, fairy tales, legends and traditions of all Slavic peoples. In addition, the history of the Celts, Thracians, Illyrians and Greeks is connected with the history of the Danube. In ancient times, the Greeks called the Danube the same as the Thracians who lived along the banks of this river - Ister. And only later, already in Roman times, the river received its modern name, which was pronounced and written as Danubium. In the 7th century BC, the Greeks founded a colony south of the river delta and called it Istria.
The ancients first looked for the sources of the river near the Riphean Mountains. Then far to the north, and later in the land of the Celts in the Hercynian Forest. But already in 15 BC, during the reign of Tiberius, the true sources of the Danube were established: it begins on the massif now called the Black Forest with two sources at an altitude of 1 kilometer.
Since the reign of Augustus, the Danube became the border of the Roman state with the northern barbarians.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DANUBE
Danube (Romanian Dunărea, Hungarian Duna, German Donau, Serbian Dunav, Slovak Dunaj, Bulgarian Dunav, Croatian Dunav, Ukrainian Danube, Latin Danubius, Danuvius, other Greek Ίστρος) - the second largest longest river in Europe (after the Volga), an “international” river, the longest river in the European Union.
Length - 2960 km.

The river originates in Germany, in the Black Forest mountains. Further, the Danube flows or is the border of ten countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine; passing through the capitals of Central and Eastern Europe such as Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade. In addition to these ten countries, the Danube drainage basin covers the territories of nine more European countries. The Danube flows into the Black Sea, forming a delta in Romania and Ukraine; the Romanian part of which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Russian name of the river goes back to Praslav. *Dunajь, which was borrowed through Gothic. *Dōnawi from Celtic. Dānuvius. Polish scientist Jan Rozwadovsky suggested that the Slavs originally used the word *Dunajь to refer to the Dnieper (as can be heard in Ukrainian and Belarusian folklore). K. Moshinsky supported this assumption, believing that when some of the Slavs migrated to the vicinity of the Danube, the name of which was originally borrowed as *Dunavъ/*Dunavь, the name was transferred from the previously known river. Moshinsky was objected to by T. Ler-Splavinsky, who pointed out that the word “Danube” and its derivatives are used to name a dozen rivers and streams in the territory of Slavic languages, in addition, this word functions as an appellative in Polish and Ukrainian dialects. In this regard, Ler-Splavinsky restores for the Proto-Slavic language the common noun *dunajь “big water”, derived from Proto-I.e. *dhouna. Lehr-Splavinsky’s conclusions were ignored in the work of V. N. Toporov and O. N. Trubachev “Linguistic analysis of hydronyms of the Upper Dnieper region”, which derived the hydronym “Dunaec”, found on Slavic lands from the name of the Danube, for which this work was criticized by Z. Golomb .

Schlogen, Germany Danube River

Historical information
Early reliable information about the Danube is contained in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who wrote in the second book of “History” that the Ister River (the ancient Greek name for the Danube) begins in the country of the Celts and flows, crossing Europe in the middle (II :33). The Ister River flows into the Euxine Pontus (Black Sea) with seven branches. The modern name was given by the Celts, who lived here in the first half of the first millennium BC. In 105, Emperor Trajan built the first stone bridge across the Danube.

Physiography
Source

The river originates in the Black Forest mountains (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), where near the city of Donaueschingen at an altitude of 678 m above sea level the mountain streams Breg (length 48 km) and Brigach (length 43 km) merge.

source of the Danube

Near the walls of the local castle-palace in the city there is an architecturally designed spring, presented as the source of the Danube.

Underground part of the Danube
Near Immendingen, about 30 kilometers from the source, the Danube disappears underground and most of its water seeps through cracks, crevices and craters in the calcareous rocks that make up the river valley.

12 km south of the place where the Danube disappears, the Aach Spring, the most powerful in Germany, gushes out of the ground. The amount of flowing water reaches 8.5 t/sec. The Radolfzeller Aach river originates from it and flows into Lake Constance, from where the Rhine flows.

In 1877, for the first time, it was possible to prove that the Aach Spring is fed by the underground waters of the Danube: 100 centners of rock salt were dissolved in the upper reaches of the Danube, not far from the cracks absorbing it, and after 55 hours this salt appeared in the waters of the Aach. During the flood period, the underground stream travels this path in just 20 hours. It became clear that water flows underground in huge channels until it bursts out in the Aach Spring from the Vimzen Cave. The height difference between the disappearance of the Danube and the source of the Aach is 185 m.

Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany Danube River

Direction
On its way, the Danube changes direction several times. First, it flows through the mountainous region of Germany to the southeast, and then at around 2747 km (the kilometer of the river is measured from the extreme point of the arm in the direction of the source) it changes direction to the northeast. This direction continues to the city of Regensburg (2379 km), where the northernmost point of the river flow is located (49 ° 03 "N).
Near Regensburg, the Danube turns southeast, then crosses the Vienna Basin, and then flows for more than 600 km along the Central Danube Lowland.
Having laid a channel through the mountain ranges of the Southern Carpathians along the Iron Gate gorge, it flows through the Lower Danube Lowland all the way to the Black Sea (more than 900 km).

The southernmost point of the river is located near the town of Sweatshirt (Bulgaria) - 43°38"N.

Danube Delta
In the lower reaches of the Danube, branching, creates a large, swampy delta cut through by a dense network of branches and lakes, 75 km long from west to east and 65 km wide from north to south. The top of the delta is located near Cape Izmail Chatal, 80 km from the branch, where the main channel of the Danube first splits into the Kiliya and Tulchin branches. 17 kilometers downstream, Tulchinskoye is divided into the Georgievskoye branch and the Sulinskoye branch, which flow into the Black Sea separately. The Kiliya branch within the borders of the territory of Ukraine creates the so-called Kiliya delta, which is the most fleeting part of the Danube delta. Most of the Danube delta is covered with floodplains - this is the second largest area of ​​this landscape in Europe (second only to the floodplains in the Volga delta). The Danube Biosphere Reserve is located in the Danube Delta.

Sleeves
The Danube has numerous branches, which sometimes diverge significantly (10 kilometers or more) from the main flow. The longest on the right bank are the branches of the Moson or Gyor Danube (turn - 1854 km, arm - 1794 km) and Duneria-Veke (237 and 169 km); on the left bank - the Small Danube (source - 1868 km, flows into the Vag), Shoroksharsky Danube (1642 and 1586 km), Borcha (371 and 248 km).

Tributaries
The Danube basin has an asymmetrical shape. Its right bank part is smaller in size (44% of the catchment area). But on the right bank of the tributaries of the Danube, a hydrographic grid of the basin is formed. The tributaries are distributed unevenly: most of them are located in the foothills of the Alps and Carpathians; there are almost none of them in the territory of the Hungarian (Middle Danube) lowland.
The tributaries of the Danube, which originate in the mountains, have a mountainous character in the upper reaches. Entering the plain, they acquire the typical features of lowland rivers and are navigable over a long distance.

Danube, Germany

The largest island of the Danube is Žitny Island, located in Slovakia.

Other characteristics
At a straight line distance between the source (Donaueschingen) and the extreme point of the delta (mark “0 km” in the Ukrainian part of the delta below the city of Vilkovo on the island of Ankudinov) of 1642 km, the river tortuosity coefficient is 1.71. The average decline of the Danube is 24.4 cm per 1 km.

Parts of the Danube (Danube) According to the complex of physical and geographical characteristics, the Danube is divided into the following three parts:
Upper (992 km) - from the source to the village of Genyu;
Middle (860 km) - from Genho to the city of Drobeta-Turnu Severin;
Nizhny (931 km) - from the city of Turnu Severin to the confluence with the Black Sea.

Serbia, Golubac Fortress Danube River

Mode
The hydrological regime of the Danube is determined by three phases: spring flood, summer-autumn floods, autumn-winter low water. The annual amplitude of water level fluctuations ranges from 4.5-5.5 m (near Reni) to 6-8 m (near Budapest). Ordinary annual water flows upstream, currents are 420 m3/s, in the middle reaches - 1900 m3/s, at the mouth - 6430 m3/s. The maximum water flow in the lower reaches is 20 thousand m3/s, the minimum is 1800 m3/s. The annual flow is about 123 km3 per year. The Danube freezes only in cold winters for 1.5-2 months.

Temperatures
The temperature regime in the Danube basin is determined mainly by the nature of the circulation of air masses and the features of the terrain. Air temperature varies over a wide range. In winter, the average temperature of the coldest month, January, ranges from −1 to −5 °C. In summer, the average temperature of the warmest month - July - in the upper part of the basin is from +16 to +18 °C, in the central part of the basin - from +17 to +22 °C, in the lower part - from +22 to +26 °C.

The Danube basin is influenced by air masses penetrating from the Atlantic, eastern Europe and western Asia.

In the Upper Danube region, the prevailing winds in the cold season are winds from the west and north-west. On the Middle Danube the eastern and south-eastern winds predominate, on the Lower Danube - northern and north-eastern ones.

In the warm season, the direction of the prevailing winds is more constant and mainly falls on the western quarters. On the Middle and Lower Danube, the “koshava” (bora type) wind is very dangerous for navigation - it has a western and northwestern direction and reaches 20-30 m/s in some places.

In the coastal part of the Danube Delta, surge winds (a strong wind from the sea slows down the flow of the river, and sometimes even turns the flow back) pose a great danger to coastal settlements. With such winds, rapid flooding of coastal areas can occur.

Precipitation
The distribution of precipitation throughout the basin is uneven. The average annual precipitation on the plain is 400-600 mm, in the Carpathians - 800-1200 mm, in the Alps - 1800-2500 mm, and sometimes more. The least amount of precipitation falls in the Danube Delta. There are years when there is no precipitation here from early March to mid-November. Snow cover in the Danube basin is not established, with the exception of the mountainous parts of the Upper Danube basin.

A characteristic feature of the Danube ice regime is the extreme instability of ice phases and different times of their onset. In some years, ice phenomena may be absent along the entire length of the river. On the Lower Danube, stable ice cover in the main channel appears once every 5-7 years.

Schönbuhel Castle, Austria Danube River

Political geography

From source to mouth, the Danube flows through the territory or along the border of 10 countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine).
Also, the Danube basin fully or partially covers the territories of 19 countries of Central and Southern Europe (except for the 10 listed above - Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia).
For all Danube countries, the Danube in some areas is a natural state border with neighboring countries. Within the territories of individual countries, the length of the Danube ranges from 1075 km (Romania) to 0.2 km (Moldova).

Budapest, Hungary Danube River

Major cities on the Danube River
On the banks of the Danube there are dozens of large cities, including the capitals of four European countries: Austria - Vienna (1,597 thousand inhabitants), Serbia - Belgrade (1,670 thousand), Hungary - Budapest (1,702 thousand), Slovakia - Bratislava (425 thousand). ).
On the tributary of the Isar stands the capital of Bavaria (federal state of Germany) Munich (1365 thousand).

Regensburg - Germany
Vienna, Linz - Austria
Vukovar - Croatia
Bratislava - Slovakia
Budapest, Hungary
Belgrade - Serbia
Ruse, Vidin - Bulgaria
Braila, Galati - Romania
Izmail - Ukraine

Shipping
The path from the North Sea to the Black Sea
Following the construction of the Main-Danube Canal in Germany in 1992, the river became part of the trans-European waterway from Rotterdam on the North Sea to Sulin on the Black Sea (3,500 km) (via the Rhine, of which the Main is a tributary). The volume of transport traffic along the Danube reached 100 million tons (1987).
In the lower reaches of the Danube there is a Romanian shipping canal (Danube-Black Sea Canal), and in the river delta there is a Ukrainian shipping canal "Danube-Black Sea". Both canals provide passage for large ships from the Danube to the Black Sea.
Shipping on the Danube continues for most of the year and is interrupted only for 1-2 months. In especially warm winters it does not stop all year round.
In 1999, shipping was difficult due to the destruction of three bridges as a result of NATO bombing of Belgrade. Cleaning of the riverbed was completed in 2002.

There are 19 locks on the river, the difference between the upper and lower pools can be from 5 to 34 meters.

Belgrade, Serbia Danube River

Legal status of shipping
In international law, the order of navigation on the Danube (the so-called “Danube regime”) was first established by the Austro-Turkish treaty of 1616. The Paris Treaty of 1856 declared the Danube an international river. In the same year, the European Danube Commission was formed (for 2 years, but its existence was repeatedly extended). After World War I, the Danube regime was established in 1921, which was signed by many European states except the USSR. These two commissions, the International Danube Commission and the European Danube Commission, regulated shipping and various issues related to it.

On August 18, 1948, the USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia signed a new convention on the Danube regime. According to it, navigation on the Danube should be open to civil and commercial ships of all states. At the same time, military vessels of non-Danubian states do not have the right to navigate on the Danube, and military vessels of the Danube states can sail outside the waters of their state only with the consent of the interested parties. Danube River

catchment area

The total area of ​​the Danube drainage basin is 817 thousand km². Its extreme points are 42°12" and 50°05" N. latitude, 8°10" and 29°40" e. d. The length of the basin from west to east is 1690 km, width 820 km.

The Danube basin is bordered in the north by the drainage basins of the Weser, Elbe, Odra, and Vistula rivers, in the northeast by the Dniester, and in the west and northwest by the Rhine. To the south of the Danube basin are the basins of small rivers of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas.
The Danube is fed by rainwater, melted snow and glaciers of the Alps and Carpathians, as well as groundwater.
Despite the complex regime of water levels, periods of flood, low water and winter are clearly visible on the Danube.

In the upper Danube, the highest water level occurs at the beginning of summer (June), the lowest in winter (December-February). In the section of the middle Danube, before the confluence of large tributaries (Drava, Tisza and especially Sava), the water level regime remains close to the upper Danube, but the amplitude of fluctuations is somewhat smoothed out.
In the lower Danube, the highest water level occurs during the flood period (April-May), the lowest occurs in the fall (September-October).
The annual flow of the Danube is about 210 km³ of water.
Water consumption - 6400 m³/s. Danube River

GEOGRAPHY OF THE DANUBE RIVER
Length of the Danube: 2,860 kilometers.
Area of ​​the Danube basin: 817,000 square kilometers.

Where the Danube flows: On the eastern slope of the Black Forest (Germany), the Breg stream originates, which, joining into one channel with another stream, the Brigach, takes the name Danube. The source of the Breg lies 7 km north-northwest of Furtwangen, at an altitude of 1000 meters above the sea surface, between the Rossek and Brigbrain mountains, and the Brigach begins almost 9 kilometers to the east, 4 kilometers southwest of St. George, flows through Billingen, which lies only 5 km from the sources of the Neckar, and under the city of Donaueschingen, receiving a stream flowing from the castle garden of this city and formerly considered the source of the Danube, it unites into one channel with the Breg stream. The area where these three streams merge is a marshy plain. From here the river takes the name Danube and flows first to the SE, maintaining the direction of Brega, but soon changes it to the SE, which it continues to the city of Regensourg, where it again turns to the SE and flows in this direction to the city of Passau. This city is generally considered to be the terminus of the Upper Danube; from here to the Iron Gates there is the Middle Danube, and from the Iron Gates to the mouth the Lower Danube.

Passau city, Germany

In the upper reaches of the Danube, it first runs from the southern foot of the Swabian Jura to the city of Donauwerth, from here to Regensburg - at the foot of the Frankish Jura. Flowing through this mountainous area, the Danube, with a large slope, is very fast, especially near Ulm, at an altitude of 469 meters. To Ulm, along the right bank of the river there are forested mountains, although in some places there are swampy and swampy small plains, and from Ulm, under which the Danube, having received its first alpine tributary Iller, becomes navigable (with a width of 78 meters), the right bank it becomes completely flat, while the left one remains mountainous and rocky.

The Middle Danube near Passau receives the Inn tributary, causing its water mass to almost double, and, leaving the elevated plains of Bavaria, enters the valley, with its right bank lying in Austrian possessions. Already beyond Passau, a gorge begins, stretching over an area of ​​about 120 kilometers to Krems and formed on one side by the southern spurs of the Bohemian Forest, Greinerwald and Mangartswald, and on the other by the northern spurs of the Alps (Sauwald). Here the Danube bed is littered with stones and cluttered with islands that form the famous Strudel rapids.
The water divides into frantic streams around the island, on which the ancient castle of Werfenstein stands in ruins, and rushes rapidly in the general channel, which narrows here to only 146 meters. In the past, a mass of water hit the large isolated rock of Gausstein and formed a terrible whirlpool, but in 1854 the rock was blown up and the path through the rapids ceased to be difficult. Not far from here, the Danube emerges from the mountain gorges, spreads out like a wide tablecloth and is divided into many branches, between which are low-lying islands, the so-called “Auen”, covered with thick grass and overgrown with willows, aspen and poplars. The river bed branches out in the form of many bends, some of which are convenient for navigation, others are cluttered with sandy shoals and gradually turn into swamps. Constrained once again by parts of the Vienna Woods, which it interrupted, the Danube enters the Lower Austrian Lowland, representing the bottom of the ancient lake through which it once flowed. Here it flows along a recently corrected channel near the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna.
The southern part of this half has long been densely populated; manufacturing industry is in full swing everywhere, but the country along the northern bank of the river, towards Moravia, Marchfeld, only recently became covered with meadows and fields: in the Middle Ages, German emperors deliberately left these places uninhabited and uncultivated in order to be able to defend without It’s a lot of work to keep your limits from the invasion of wild hordes. From here, at the confluence of the Morava River, the Danube leaves Austrian-German soil and enters the borders of Hungary, where it is replaced by the last spurs of the Alps and the foothills of the Small Carpathians. Having passed the “Hungarian Gate” under Devin (130 m above sea level) and Presburg, the Danube enters the Hungarian Plain and spreads widely on its sloping banks.
Here it takes on the character of a real large river with changeable, indefinite banks, except in those places where mountains approaching the water itself cause the river to narrow again for a while. The Danube washes away the banks here, causing large masses of earth to collapse, which are then deposited in the riverbed or near the other shore in the form of numerous sandbanks, sandy arrows and spits, and even entire islands and islets. All this is overgrown with reeds, bushes and trees. Here the banks of the river are densely populated. Of the many islands, two large islands that lie below Pressburg stand out: Big and Little Schutte.
The first of them (87 kilometers long and about 25 kilometers wide) is called Tsalokez by its inhabitants, and by the Slovaks Zhitny Island and has about 200 villages. Petite Schuette is about 48 kilometers long. Divided into three channels, the Danube again unites into one channel near the city of Komorno and flows in an easterly direction to the city of Gran, again breaking through the “Visegrad Passage” between the protrusions of the Bacon Forest protruding to the south and the foothills of the Novograd Carpathians from the north under the mountains. Weizen D. turns quite sharply to the south and, having passed the Hungarian capital Budapest, where its height above sea level is 110 meters, enters the large Hungarian plain-lowland (Alfeld).
This area is of a steppe character: a huge low-lying plain, in which no significant elevations can be seen over a large area, strikes the observer with its monotony both in the nature of the area, both in the plant and animal kingdoms, even people here are the same throughout almost the entire space the same. In Alfeld, the Danube spreads widely and flows slowly between two sloping banks, in places forming real swamps and swamps; Otherwise, in a wide channel, islands rise from the earth deposited by river waters, or next to the main channel there are numerous branches separated from it, which subsequently merge again with the main river. The most significant of the islands on the Danube in this place are Szent András (between Weizen, Buda), then Csepel, Szar and Margita near Mogacs. Near Buda the depth is 8-12 meters, the width of the Danube here is about 1000 meters, and between Benek and Feldvar 570-1260 meters. Below the confluence of the Drava near Vukovar, the Danube is pushed to the ESE by the Sirmian hills (Fruska Gora, see) and flows to Peterwardein (82 m) and Slankamn. Here it receives the largest of its tributaries, the second artery of the Alfeld, the river. Tissu, and flows in the direction of the city of Zemlin, under which its width reaches 1560 m, depth up to 14 m; from here it goes to Belgrade and receives its main right tributary, the Sava; from this point it forms the border between Hungary and Serbia to Orsova, or Rshava.
Near the town of Bazias, the mountains squeezed the river into a gorge for about 130 km to the town of Kladova. This gorge is called Klissura, or the Iron Gate. In this gorge, the height of the Danube above sea level goes from 37.3 to 11 m; with such a strong slope, the river acquires extreme rapidity of flow and is compressed on both sides to the point of incredible (from 1900 meters, its width in the Iron Gate reaches 100 m, and in one place even up to 60 meters); its depth here from 20 meters reaches 50 m and even 75 meters, and the water fall, equal to 4 cm under Baziash. per 1 km, here in Iron Gate it reaches 540 m; These difficulties for navigation are also compounded by the fact that the river bottom is in many places strewn with underwater rocks and stones. Danube River

The Lower Danube begins at the river's exit from the Iron Gate. Here it again enters a more level area, flows with many bends, first to the south, and then, gradually turning to the east in an unbent semicircle, past the town. Vidin, Nikopol, Sistov, Rushchuk, Salistria with a width of 700-1000 meters. and a slight fall passes along the edge of the Great Wallachian Plain among a wide swampy lowland, cut by numerous branches, with huge puddles of stagnant water. At Cernavoda, separated from the sea by only 50 km, the Danube, meeting the flat hills of Dobrudzha, suddenly changes its east. direction and, bypassing it, turns through Girshova and Brailov to the north.
In this space it is divided into a whole labyrinth of branches. Only after the confluence of the Seret the Danube again takes its main eastern direction and receives the Prut on the left side. At a distance of about 7 km above Tulcea, the Danube forms its delta. This is a huge (about 2558 square kilometers) swampy plain, overgrown with high reeds (up to 3 meters in height), in which herds of buffalo and flocks of various water birds find shelter and wolves prowl. The extreme branches of this delta lie 89 km from one another.
Of these, the left (northern) one, divided into several parts and overflowing like a lake, passing through Izmail, flows into the Black Sea through the Chilia branch, covering 101 km and bringing with it 63% of all Danube water into the sea. The right branch beyond Tulcea is divided into Sulina (middle) and St. George (southern). The Sulina branch, after the second division, runs another 90 km, staying almost straight to the east, and flows into the Black Sea, bringing it only 7.4% of the Danube water. This is the most navigable of the Danube branches; its depth reaches 16 meters, on the shallows there are about 5 meters, and before it flows into the sea there is also a significant shallow.
This depth was achieved thanks to extensive hydraulic engineering work carried out after the Crimean War. The St. George's Arm stretches after the second division over a space of 110 kilometers, has a depth of 6 to 11 meters and before flowing into the sea there is a large shallow covered with water only one and a half meters.

Smederevo Fortress, Serbia Danube River

Method of feeding the Danube: the main role in feeding the river is played by water from the melting of mountain snows; Water from heavy rainfall and groundwater are of great importance.

Tributaries of the Danube: Iller (right), Lech (right), Isar (right), Inn (right), Enns (right), Morava (left), Raba (right), Vag (left), Gron (left), Ipel ( left), Drava (right), Tisa (left), Sava (right), Morava (right), Iskar (right), Siret (left), Prut (left).

Inhabitants of the Danube: sturgeon (beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon) and herring (herring, bellyfish), catfish, carp, asp, bream, silver bream, fisherman, pike perch, sterlet, roach, rudd, tench, crucian carp, perch, podust, gudgeon, bleak , ide, barbel, saberfish, pike, burbot and some others.

Freezing of the Danube: Flood occurs in the warm part of the year; it starts at the end of February and continues until August. The Danube is at its lowest in September and October. Freeze-up is not observed every year (in January-February).

DANUBE RIVER IN AUSTRIA
The drive through the magnificent Austrian part of the Danube Valley begins in the picturesque German town of Passau on the border of Germany and Austria. There the great Danube connects with the rivers Inn and Ilts.

Unique landscapes appear in the bends of the Danube near the town of Schlögen. Driving past the Wilhering monastery, you find yourself in the capital of Upper Austria, the city of Linz. Here the route briefly leaves the Danube towards the town of St. Florian with its impressive monastery, and then to the ancient Roman city of Enns and on to Steyr with its magnificent Old Town.

Through the fishing town of Grain, the road leads to the Wachau region, one of the most beautiful sections of the route, which has received the status of a UNESCO world cultural heritage. The local landscape is dominated by vineyards and apricot orchards, with picturesque towns and villages scattered throughout. Between them, as if on a throne, majestic monasteries and ancient ruins rise above the Danube.

The monasteries of Melk and Göttwai make an indelible impression. The monastery in Melk is a pearl of Austrian baroque architecture, state rooms, a library, frescoes, a collection of artistic treasures.

Göttweig Monastery is a beautiful Baroque monastery, within which there is a museum, an imperial highway, concerts, beautiful views of the Danube and the Wachau region, and opportunities for spiritual activities. From Göttweig to Melk - part of the Austrian section of the Way of St. James.

Further along the Danube, the towns of Spitz, Weissenkirchen and Durnstein amaze with their picturesque beauty, the latter with its famous ancient ruins. In the town of Klosterneuburg, northwest of Vienna, you can explore the majestic monastery. After this, the route will take you to the capital of Austria, the city of Vienna with its many attractions.

Leaving the city and continuing along the Danube to the east, you arrive at the Roman excavation site of Petronel Carnuntum, where you can take a trip to the ancient Romans in the archaeological park. History comes alive during exciting events such as gladiator fights, and summer camps are available.
Next, the Danube leads you to the town of Hainburg on the edge of the Donauauen National Park. Here the Danube leaves Austrian territory.

The Donauauen National Park is located on the outskirts of Vienna and is one of the last large undeveloped river valleys in Central Europe, providing an ideal habitat for numerous species of plants and animals. The valley's picturesque, idyllic landscapes can be enjoyed on foot, by bike or by boat.
In the Donauauen National Park there is the Orth Palace on the Danube with the multimedia permanent exhibition “DonAUräume” (Danube Spaces), an observation tower and the “Castle Island” area with typical animals and plants of the river valley.

The Danube, glorified by Johann Strauss, appears to us as a deep blue river, calmly carrying its waters among the spurs of the Vienna Woods. The Danube is closely surrounded by mountains, and silence reigns on its quiet and deserted banks, as, for example, in the Kazan gorge, where only the sound of the river is heard. But far from all its length it is calm and blue. Sometimes the Danube, compressed by the steep slopes of rocky mountains, angrily throws waves towards ships that can hardly overcome their pressure.

It is not customary to call the Danube a river on a ship: the Danube is the Danube, and the people involved in Danube transport are not rivermen, but sailors. Navigation on it is foreign, like on the sea, and the depths here are not large like a river: they allow sea ships to rise high up the Danube. And there is no need to talk about the difficulties of swimming, because sometimes the Danube wakes up so gloomy and preoccupied that even the sun’s rays do not make him happy

On the marble of Roman altars, the god Danube was depicted as an angry and scowling old man in long robes fluttering in the sharp wind. It is not difficult to imagine how fervently they offered prayer to such a god! But more than once people tried to argue with him: thousands of slaves, by order of Caesar, carved out depressions in the riverbed, in creeks and wherever smaller, in order to build canals convenient for ships.

Hungarian Vajdahuned Castle
The waves of the Danube know many languages: they hear the speeches of Hungarians and Czechs, Bulgarians and Romanians, the peoples of Yugoslavia and many others. Donau and Duna, Dunav and Dunerya - each nation has its own name for this second largest river in Europe. To those who know how to listen to its waves, the Danube will tell you a lot.

The river-border did not promise peace, and few people built a durable home on its banks for a long time. But from time immemorial, fortresses and military camps grew here, first Roman, then Turkish and Austrian. Then they too were swept away by history, leaving jagged walls and towers erected by people on the vast expanses of the mountain shores.

In 513 BC, the Persian king Darius I Histapes launched a campaign against the inhabitants of the Danube region, but, having lost many of his soldiers, he fled shamefully. Not far from the modern village of Novoselskoye, located beyond Lake Yaltsukh, there is a mound on which, according to legend, the headquarters of King Darius was located. Here he received ambassadors from the Scythian leader Idanfirs, who handed him an ultimatum demanding that he leave the Danube steppes.

In 334 BC, Darius’s attempt was repeated by the famous ancient commander Alexander the Great. He crossed to the left bank of the Danube, ravaged the coastal settlements, but could not gain a foothold here and left with his army to the Balkans. And in Kilia, in memory of his stay, he erected a monument to the god Zeus.

In the 1st century, the Roman Emperor Tiberius built a road through the Cataract Gorge on the right bank of the Danube, but it acquired important strategic significance later when Emperor Trajan continued it further. At the entrance to Casani, on a steep rocky wall, there is a well-preserved memorial plaque of Emperor Trajan (103).

One of the many fortified points of the Romans on the right bank of the Danube was the Yatrus fortress, written sources about which are scarce and very fragmentary. The earliest mention of it occurs in the second half of the 2nd century and the first half of the 3rd century, when the fortress was under the command of the dux of the province of Second Moesia and it housed a garrison of shield-bearing cavalry. Subsequent events are unknown to historians, but in the 6th century, Emperor Justinian “renewed with new construction the damaged parts of the so-called fortifications of Yatrus and Tigas.” In the 8th century, Yatrus was not mentioned in written sources, since it had already been destroyed by the Avars and, probably, the Slavs.

Subsequently, the “Gorodishche” near the village of Krivina (as local residents call the ruins of Yatrus) served as a quarry, from where stone was taken for rural buildings and even for the construction of a pier in the city of Svishtov on the Danube. The most damaged were the fortress walls, made of well-hewn squares. There was no gate in either the southwestern or southeastern wall, but during excavations a tombstone with relief images of family members (father, mother, son and daughter) and with a Latin inscription was removed from the southwestern wall. A marble head of a man also comes from the ruins of Yatous.

The most dangerous for navigation on the Danube is the entrance to the Cataracts - a three-kilometer-long section, the so-called “Iron Gate”. This name is associated with the time when the Turks decided to close access to the Cataracts and blocked the riverbed in this place with iron chains. Here, near the Transylvanian Alps, the plain suddenly ends, and the Danube is forced to cut its way through the southern spurs of the mountains, forming its most magnificent gorge. Its banks suddenly rise to a height of 100 meters, and in the middle of the river a stone tooth sticks out above the breakers, looking like the remnant of a broken tower. In fact, this is the natural Babakai rock, reminding ships to be on alert...

On the steep cliffs, on the opposite banks of the Danube, you can see the ruins of two fortresses that once blocked the entrance to the valley. The Golubac fortress was built by the Serbian prince Brankovic, Laslovar by King Sigmund, but over time the Turks who captured them settled here. Golubac, which means “dovecote” in Russian, is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved fortresses of medieval Serbia. It is also known for the fact that poisonous flies, very dangerous for animals, lived in its caves. An old legend says that

In one of the fortresses there lived a young, beautiful Turkish woman, who left her master and went to the owner of the fortress on the opposite bank of the river. The enraged aga could not bear such deception and insult on the part of the harem concubine and calmed down only when the traitor was again in his hands. He chained her to the Babakay rock so that she, dying of hunger, would repent (“babakay” translated from Turkish as “repent”). But the beautiful Turkish woman was released, and the jealous aga subsequently died in one of the battles with Christians.

The island of Ada-Kale is born directly from the waters of the Danube, as if created by a theater artist. Here the mosque rises above the cinnabar tiles and above the apple thicket; and a lane running away from the mossy boat dock to God knows where; and the dilapidated walls of the ancient fortress overgrown with willow. There are 7 underground passages leading from it (one under the Danube), and the remains of ancient casemates in which children now play have also been preserved, so the fortress is not at all formidable, but more like a kind grandfather who is only pretending to be angry.

The island of Ada-Kale is not at all fabulous; Turks still live here - peaceful descendants of former conquerors: they live, work in a tobacco factory, fish and masterfully prepare Turkish delight. Translated from Turkish, Ada Kale means “fortress island.” Legend says that

The first settlement was founded here by the wandering dervish Mishkin Baba. He was poor, wore torn clothes and props, but was rich only in kindness and affection

to people. Yes, so rich that the sun shone in his eyes! All over the world Mishkin Baba searched for a place sheltered from anger, oppression and greed, and in the end he chose an island between the deserted banks of the Danube.

Until 1912, the island of Ada-Kale belonged to Turkey, and now to Romania, but whose water is here is difficult to determine, since the border of Romania and Yugoslavia passes here. On the Romanian side, the roofs of the city of Orsova are hidden behind the spurs of the mountains, in the vicinity of which Hercules lived, washing himself after his exploits in the sacred waters of the Danube. On the Hungarian coast stands the small and quiet town of Mohács, whose land became the scene of bloody battles three times in European history: twice with the Turkish Janissaries, and then with the Nazi invaders in the 20th century.

The wide Danube was divided into two branches by the gently sloping island of Szentendre, and it was difficult to find a more convenient place for crossing. That is why the paths of different peoples crossed here, and that is why a trading settlement appeared here. On the southern outskirts of Szentendre there are the ruins of the ancient Castra Constance, a Roman border fortress that for a long time bristled with arrows. In the 5th century, the fortress was destroyed by the Huns, and then the Danube bend passed from hand to hand - Celts, Romans, Huns, Germans, Avars, Slavs, Hungarians...

In 1009, even before the appearance of Buda and Pest, the Hungarian king Stephen I granted the village the name Szentendre, which has not changed since then. In 1146, by royal decree, the village was elevated to the rank of a city, 100 years later the Mongols besieged their horses near the Danube, and ashes remained in the place of Szentendre. Then the city was rebuilt, and it was no different from other Hungarian cities, and in the XFV century the first Serbian refugees came here...

The length of the Danube within Austria is 350 kilometers. The Austrians themselves say “The Danube flows not only through our territory, but also through our history.” There are still castles and fortresses on both banks of the river: Kreuzenstein - the former Roman fortress “Castellum Pergum”; Persenbeug Castle, which is mentioned in “ Song of the Nibelungs"; castles Spielberg, Tillisburg and many others

The waves of history swept away many conquerors and destroyed many of their castles and fortresses. Everything has passed, only the Danube remains - noisy and rumbling, gurgling and roaring. The Danube, which has long attracted people with its beauty and wildness, grandeur and treachery, the cold of its depths and the warm waters of its shallows...

DANUBE DELTA
“Paradise for birds”, “the newest land in Europe” are phrases that are often used when describing the Danube Delta.
A magical land where it seems that time has stood still. The bustling world of modern civilizations remains somewhere there, at the mouth of the delta.
The Danube Delta, a true museum of nature, is the lowest and newest land in Romania. Thanks to its flora and fauna, it is unique in Europe. The Danube Delta was formed in a place where there was once a sea bay, later an estuary, then it turns into a delta.

For 5,000 years, a small community of people, the people of the Danube Delta, lived in complete harmony with the delta's exceptional ecosystem, subsisting on fishing, animal husbandry and reed gathering. Small, archaic villages have not been touched by time and have retained their original appearance. The villages are isolated, the only access to them is through the delta canals. A traveler can explore this natural refuge by boat, find a world of peace and quiet, and admire the unique landscapes.

Danube Delta.
Area and structure.

The Danube Delta is located in the east of Romania and the southeast of Ukraine. The shape of the Danube Delta is similar to the classic letter of the Greek alphabet Δ “delta”.
The area of ​​the Danube Delta is approximately 4170 km hectares, of which 3445 km (82%) belong to Romania (in Tulcea County) and the remaining 18% to Ukraine. In terms of area, it ranks second in Europe, after the Volga River delta (15,000 sq km), which flows into the Caspian Sea.

Before the place where the Danube flows into the Black Sea, the Danube Delta expands to 100 km long x 100 km wide, and continues into the sea, at a distance of 10-15 km.

The Danube Delta is the result of the meeting between Europe's second longest river, the Danube, and the Black Sea. As a result of this contact, the marshy soil of the Danube Delta was formed based on the deposition of sediment, sand and silt, and this process continues to this day. In some places, the Danube Delta is expanding at a rate of 120 meters per year.
The Danube is divided into 3 large branches, Chilia, Sulina and Sfintul Gheorghe, from which numerous branches also originate, winding in labyrinths of water channels, feeding lakes with water or flowing again into the main branches and into the sea.
The most important lakes of the Danube Delta are located between the Kiliya and Razelmn branches: Tatanir, Furtuna, Matita, Babina, Dranov. The largest lake in the Danube Delta is Lake Dranov (27.1 sq km).
When the water level in the Danube is low, the Chilia, Sulina and Sfintul Gheorghe branches transport 60%, 21% and 19% of the Danube waters, and when the water level rises, 72%, 11% and 17% of the Danube water volume is obtained.

Climate and seasons in the Danube Delta
The climate here is maritime continental, the Danube Delta is the driest and sunniest part of Romania. In winter, the average temperature in the coldest month is
in January -10 ̊ C. In spring, the months of March-April are dry and cool, but sometimes during the day the temperature can already rise to 20-25 ̊ C. In May, the average temperature is +15. Summer in the delta is warm and dry. Autumn begins in October and ends in the second half of December. The second half of autumn is rainy.

Danube Delta, flora and fauna.
The constant presence of water certainly affects the plant world. The Danube Delta is famous for its rich plant and animal life.
The predominant areas are reed beds, sometimes up to 6 meters high, reeds, forests, and meadows.
The Danube Delta Nature Reserve is a paradise for birds. In summer, 320 species of birds are found here, of which 166 constantly nest in the delta, and 159 species migrate from such distant places as the Arctic, Siberia, the Mediterranean and rest in the delta during migration, for example the Siberian swan, flamingos Nile Valley and others. More than a million birds fly here to overwinter. Rare species of birds that are on the verge of extinction are found here: Dalmatian pelican, pink pelican, small cormorant, red-breasted goose. The pelican colony is considered the largest in Europe.
In addition to birds, there are foxes, wolves, wild boars, deer, hare, and snakes.
In the Danube Delta there are 75 species of fish, of which 44 are freshwater species, the rest migrating from the Black Sea. Unfortunately, intensive commercial fishing in recent years has led to negative consequences and now the situation of fish resources is quite critical.

The population of the Danube Delta is about 18-20 thousand inhabitants, among them about 3-4 thousand Russian Old Believers Lipovians. 4 thousand inhabitants live in the port city of Sulina. The Danube Delta is a region of Romania where the population density is lowest, with an average density of 5 inhabitants/sq km.
The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The excursion to the Danube Delta can be started from the city of Tulcea. The distance from the main city of the Romanian coast, Constanta, to the city of Tulcea is 131 km.

FISH IN THE DANUBE RIVER
Huge rocks that rise in the middle of the river bed give rise to almost insurmountable whirlpools and waterfalls. One of these giants, the Pregrada rock, reaches 250 m in width and almost 2 km in length. Here the Danube rushes with incredible speed and turbulence. The width of the channel here is only 108 m.

The Danube basin, especially its delta, is inhabited by almost all species of European fish. Among them are the small silver bleak (Alburnus alburnus); During the breeding season, these fish gather in large schools; females glue small clusters of eggs to any underwater rock or plant they like.

Bream (Abramis brama), a large fish from the carp family with a humpbacked back and a small mouth adapted for eating small invertebrates that live on silty bottoms. The long-whiskered gudgeon (Gobio urano-scopus) is also a member of the cyprinid family; unlike the other three species of minnows found here, it lives only in the Danube basin.

Carp (Cyprinus carpio), a very large fish with a dark gray or brown back, golden sides and a yellow belly. Before the Great Glaciation, this fish was widespread throughout Europe; when the glacier advanced from the north, it retreated to the south. Later, when the glacier retreated, the carp recovered almost everywhere in the Black Sea and the Danube basin.

Now it is cultivated in many other reservoirs. In the Danube, carp migrate little; only during spring floods does it enter the floodplain to lay eggs. When the water subsides, juveniles and adults return back to the river. These are persistent and prolific fish, laying one and a half million eggs each at a time.

One of the most interesting fish of the Danube is the common, or European, catfish (Siluris glanis); Some giant catfish reach 5 m in length and weigh 300 kg. The lifestyle of this calm, slow-moving fish has been little studied, despite the fact that it has always been readily caught. The catfish has a dark gray, scaleless body with a large wide head, a huge bulldog mouth, decorated with two long whiskers hanging from the upper jaw, and four more antennae from the lower jaw.

The eyes are tiny. The most important sensory organs are concentrated in the catfish in the antennae and in the lateral line of the body. It has a ridiculously small dorsal fin, resembling a small flag, but a very long anal fin that reaches the base of its laterally flattened tail. It is not surprising that it was sometimes mistaken for a giant broad-headed eel.

Catfish build rather primitive nests, erecting a kind of wall around them. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the male takes guard and continues to guard his nest even after the tadpole-like fry hatch. When the young are ready for independent life, they leave the nest and the male’s duties end there. Catfish are a desirable catch for fishermen.

The Danube and its delta are home to some species of sturgeon, such as the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), reaching a maximum length of 100 cm and a weight of 15 kg or more. The Russian sturgeon subspecies (A guldenstaedti cochlicus) is distributed all the way to Bratislava; another species, the stellate sturgeon (A. stellatus), migrates as far as Tokaj and Komaron in Hungary.

Bratislava, Slovakia

The Danube is also home to such a widespread species as the Atlantic sturgeon (A. sturio). Here it reaches 3.5 m in length and 200 kg in weight.
The most striking fish of the Danube and the largest freshwater fish in Eastern Europe is the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso), which is said to be 8.5 m long and weigh 1300 kg! Once upon a time, this giant fish traveled throughout the river and, as soon as the ice began to drift, it left the delta and went upstream to Bavaria.

Today, beluga numbers have declined and they do not rise above the Iron Gates in Romania. One large female can contain more than 100 kg of eggs. Sturgeon are a very ancient group of species that arose 200 million years ago. Their appearance corresponds to their antiquity. An elongated armored body with bony plates protruding along the back and sides distinguishes them from any other fish.

There are scales only on the upper side of the tail. Even the internal structure of sturgeon is primitive: the skeleton is cartilaginous, there is no real spinal column. Their intestines are equipped with a spiral valve, which only lobe-finned fish from North America and sharks have. Without a doubt, the Danube was an extremely favorable environment for these largest inland fish.

However, overfishing in the middle of the 18th century. led to a sharp decline in the population. Today, the giant European sturgeon are preserved in the Danube Delta and other major rivers flowing into the Black Sea only thanks to strict conservation measures.

JOURNEY ALONG THE DANUBE RIVER
He is called the king among rivers. It is similar to the Amazon and flows through half of the European continent. The Danube is a haven for many species of animals. Next to it grow the oldest forests in Europe. For thousands of years, the life-giving river has attracted people. The Danube crosses 10 countries and passes through four vibrant capitals: Belgrade, Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. This is truly an international river.

You will not find this cruise on the Danube in any guide to river cruises, since this tour is not connected by one river ship, but has an educational meaning. And to learn about this river you need to go a long way, visiting each country separately through which the Danube flows.

The mighty river has a complicated origin. Officially, the Danube begins here between the river and the sea.

This old lighthouse in the port of Sulina is the zero mark of the Danube.

Unlike all other rivers in the world, the length of the Danube is measured from its mouth. Crossing half of Europe, the Danube is almost 3 thousand kilometers long. It crosses various territories and changes its appearance in accordance with its surroundings. Before reaching the pristine waters of the delta, it flows through the plains of Romania. At the “iron gates” of the Carpathians, he made caves in the Carpathian Mountains. The Danube crosses the lowlands of Hungary and, not far from Budapest, abruptly changes direction, skirting the foot of the Alps from the north. Its origins are hidden in the romantic Black Forest of Germany's Black Forest. And every kilometer of the river is a 25-century culture of European civilization.

Alpine waters turn the Danube into a wide river as it reaches Austria's Wachau Valley, the most beautiful valley in the world. This region is famous for its vineyards, which owe their mild, ideal climate. Here, the cool, moist air of the shady forests downstream collides with the dry, warm air rising across the plains.

The Wachau Valley leads to a city inextricably linked with the great Danube - Vienna. This is the largest capital on the river, but from here the Danube itself is practically invisible. The river flowing through Vienna is the man-made Danube Canal. One of the symbols of the city is the Ferris wheel. Vienna is undoubtedly the music capital of Europe. Here Johann Strauss composed a symbol of Vienna's long history, but it was only in Paris, which prefers everything extravagant, that it became successful. It is impossible to leave Vienna without visiting one of the Goinigen taverns, where young wines are served. There is an atmosphere of spiritual familiarity here. The sounds of the accordion remind everyone of the fleeting nature of life. In Vienna, music is everywhere.

Let's continue our cruise along the Danube. Just a few kilometers from the bustling center on the far outskirts of the city lies a completely different world - the Danube Auen National Park. Here the Danube is as wild as the similar South American Amazon. In the national park you can find a wide variety of habitats for different species of animals.
Small cruise ships intended for river routes regularly “snoop” along the Danube. The river has the only fast boat that plies the Danube between Vienna and Budapest. Many people enjoy this river walk. The journey to the east by high-speed boat takes 5 hours. The path runs along historical sites to the banks of the deep Danube towards the Slavic side.

The great river has one unpleasant feature - due to the strong current, the waters of the Danube independently transport gravel, which plays an important role in the river’s ecosystem. To combat this phenomenon, dredgers are deployed, which annually remove more than 100 thousand tons of gravel from the lower reaches and pour them upstream. The fight against riverbed shallowing will never end. This is endless work, but the life of the riverine forest depends on it.

Danube in Bratislava
After Bratislava, a barrier of concrete and steel appears, causing a lot of controversy. This is the Dobchik hydroelectric power station. The construction of this huge structure destroyed kilometers of wetlands. Here the water is measured and separated. Water is also separated here for entertainment. But this is no longer a river, but simply water distributed by artificial barriers. The water management project has completely changed the Danube. For sixty kilometers it flows along an unnaturally straight path towards Hungary.
The mighty Danube enters Budapest - its main pearl. It circled the previous two capitals, but in Budapest it goes right to the heart. The East of Europe begins here. On the embankment near Pest there is an unusual memorial - a lot of shoes.
To some extent the river divides, and to some extent it unites. This river divides not only Buda and Pest, but the entire country. This division is already 2000 years old, it has not disappeared to this day. The right and left banks look across the Danube at each other. The magnificent alliance of the river with Budapest is not inferior to the Parisian marriage with the Seine. Budapest is the only city in the world that welcomes the Danube with such grandeur and nobility. He seems to be admiring his reflection in the water, with ancient bridges and piers. Here you can visit the Turkish baths, play chess right in the water, and drink coffee by the cool fountains. In this stunning city, an unknown writer is honored instead of an unknown soldier.
Next, the Danube River embarks on a lonely journey, crossing the vast Hungarian plain, bathed in the scorching summer sun and endless open spaces. The river stubbornly goes south exactly 200 km. This region is inhabited by free gypsies. The soul of the mysterious people is kept by the villages that stretch along the river. The Danube crosses a third border, continuing its journey through the breadbasket of Croatia. Then in Belgrade it merges with the Saba River and flows for another 300 km. This area is very flat - like damn, local people say that the highest mountain here is cabbage.
There is the Vukovar Museum-Hospital, in which everything is done as it was during the war - there are screens everywhere broadcasting documentary chronicles and videos, bandaged mannequins lying on beds representing the consequences of the bombing. The new buildings look touching among the houses torn apart by shells. Vukovar is ready to regain its name as an elegant town with its beautiful galleries. There is also an unusual cinema, located on a barge, showing shows on both banks of the Danube.

Now the Danube rushes towards the Carpathian Mountains. As history progressed, he made his way through this mountain range and gorge, which became known as the Iron Gate. Here the Danube seeps through high gorges. The cliffs rise 300 meters up from the water, and the river is only 150 meters wide but 90 meters deep. For river navigation, this is considered the most difficult and dangerous section of the river. Turns, bends, rocks that form dangerous rapids, floating debris and rip currents. And fishermen at all times, throwing their nets into the Iron Gate gorge, dream of catching the most valuable fish in the world, the beluga, which reaches a length of 8 meters. A family can live on the proceeds from the sale of black caviar for many years.

Below the surface of the water lie villages that were flooded after the construction of the dam for the Turnu Severin hydroelectric power station. From here to the Black Sea is 900 km. Here the Danube divides three countries with its course: Romania - along the border of which it continues its path, Serbia - which it leaves behind and Bulgaria lying on the right. Next comes Bulgaria and the city of Rousse, somewhat reminiscent of modern Europe. In these parts you can admire the waters of the Danube, despite the pollution from factories.
After 2000 km of wandering by water, we arrive in Tulcea. This is the last port on the river, since the Black Sea is only 70 km from here.

Now the Danube flows widely and calmly across the plains of Romania until it reaches the Black Sea. There the river divides into three main currents and many branches, forming a delta. It is here that sand and gravel washed away from the Alps end their journey.
Delta is a strange dream-like world. Here the river seems to have lost its land. Many types of flora and fauna, the calls of countless flocks of birds and many smells. There is also a nature reserve inhabited by pelicans and other birds. This is a unique place and a paradise for birds, fish and people. On the border with Ukraine, the Danube is gradually disappearing.

The Danube easily draws borders between countries, dividing and at the same time uniting them. He introduces us to Schubert and gypsies, mountains and open spaces, but this river belongs to no one.

Esztergom, Hungary, St. Adalbert's Basilica

Slavic mythology. Danube Ivanovich. THE BIRTH OF THE DANUBE

Danube Ivanovich is a Russian epic hero. In Ancient Rus', the word “Danube” was not only the name of a river (and even the designation of a river in general), but also a man’s name. In the epic about the hero, as we will see, the name of the river and the name are linked together. In the image of Danube Ivanovich, mythological and historical features coexist quite organically. Several epics about him allow us, with some degree of convention, to reconstruct the main episodes of his life. Unlike the heroes who came to Kiev from Russian cities and began to serve here, Danube Ivanovich once went to Lithuania and served the king there in various court positions: “departures” of service people to neighboring lands were common in feudal times. Then the Danube finds itself in a clean saw, and here he meets Dobrynya.

Bylina:
In the capital in the city of Kyiv,
What does gentle sir Prince Vladimir have?
And there was a feast, an honorable feast,
There was a table of honour,
There were many princes and boyars at the feast
And Russian mighty heroes.
And there will be a day at half a day,
Princely table in a half-table,
Vladimir the Prince was amused,
Walks along the bright grid,
He combs his black curls,
He said, gentle sir Vladimir-Prince
This is the word:
"Goy Axis, you princes and boyars
And mighty heroes!
All of you in Kyiv are remarried,
Only I, Vladimir the Prince, am single,
And I go single, I go unmarried.
And who knows my opponent?
He knows the opponent, the beautiful maiden, -
How stately the girl was,
I would be stately in stature and perfect in mind,
Her white face is like white snow,
And the buttocks are like the color of poppies,
And black eyebrows like sables,
And the clear eyes are like those of a falcon.”
And here the greater is buried for the lesser,
From the least, there is no answer to him, the prince.
From that was the prince's table,
From that heroic bench
Ivan Gostiny son speaks,
He jumped to the heroic place,
He shouted, Ivan, in a loud voice:
“Hey you are, gentle sir Vladimir-Prince!
Bless the word before you,
And one word is safe,
And even without that the great one fell.
Have I, Ivan, been to the Golden Horde?
From the formidable Tsar Etmanuil Etmanuilovich
And I saw his two daughters in his house:
The first daughter is Nastasya the Queen,
And the other is Afrosinya the Queen;
Afrosinya sits in a high chamber,
Behind thirty damask castles,
And the violent winds will not blow against her,
And the red sun does not bake your face;
And that’s why, sir, the girl has a stately figure,
Stately in stature and perfect in mind,
The white face is like white snow,
And the buttocks are like the color of poppies,
Black eyebrows, like sable,
Clear eyes like a falcon.
Send, sir, the Danube to woo."
Vladimir the capital prince of Kiev,
Ordered to pour a glass of green wine
One and a half buckets,
Present to Ivan Gostiny
For those good words of his,
What did the betrothed tell him?
He calls, Prince Vladimir,
Danube Ivanovich into his bedroom
And he began to tell him in words:
If you serve me, I will deserve it -
Go, Danube, to the Golden Horde
To the formidable king Etmanuil Etmanuilovich
About a good deed - about matchmaking
On him, on his beloved, on his daughter,
On honest Afrosinya the Queen.
Take my golden treasury,
Take three hundred stallions
And mighty heroes."
Brings green wine to the Danube
One and a half buckets,
Turium horn sweet honey
Half a third bucket.
He drinks, Danube, the charm of that green wine
And the turium horn is sweet to honey.
The heroic womb flared up,
And the mighty shoulders parted
How young Danube Ivanovich is,
He says, Danube, this is the word:
“And the sun is gentle, you are Vladimir the Prince!
I don't need your gold treasury,
There is no need for three hundred stallions,
And there is no need for mighty heroes, -
And perhaps only one good guy for me,
No matter how young Ekima Ivanovich is,
Who serves Alyoshka Popovich.”
Vladimir the capital prince of Kyiv
Immediately he himself brought Ekim with his hands:
“There, on the Danube, there will be a little steam.”
And soon the Danube will be equipped,
Soon the heroes are repairing the trip
From the capital city of Kyiv
To the distant horde of gold land.
And off we went, good fellows,
And they go for a week straight,
And they’ve been traveling for another week now,
And they will be in the Golden Horde
From the formidable king Etmanuel Etmayauilovich;
In the middle of the royal court
The fellows galloped from good horses,
They tied the good horses to an oak post,
We walked into the white stone chamber.
The Danube says this word:
“Go you, king of the Golden Horde!
Do you have white stone chambers?
There is no image of Savior,
There is no one to pray to,
And there’s nothing to bow to you for.”
The king of the Golden Horde speaks here,
And he himself, the king, grins:
“Go you, Danube son Ivanovich!
Ali you came to me
Should we continue to serve as before?”
Danube’s son Ivanovich answers him:
“Hey art thou, king of the Golden Horde!
And I came to you too
Not to serve as before and not as before, -
I came about a matter of kindness to you,
About a good deed - about matchmaking:
On yours, sir, your beloved daughter,
On honest Afrosinya the princess,
Vladimir the Prince wants to get married.”
And then the king got into trouble,
And tears at the head of black curls
And throws it on the brick floor,
And at the same time he says this word:
“Hey you are, Danube son Ivanovich!
If he had not served me faithfully and faithfully before,
He would have ordered them to be planted in deep cellars
And he would starve to death
For those idle words of yours.”
Here the Danube became in trouble,
His heroic heart flared up,
He took out his saber sharply,
He spoke this word:
“Go you, king of the Golden Horde!
If only I had not been in your house,
I didn’t eat bread and salt,
I would cut off the head of the violent man at the shoulders.”
Then the king roared in a loud voice,
Greyhounds came in on chains, -
And he wants to pit the Danube alive
Those Medellian males,
The Danube son Ivanovich shouts here:
What have you become and why are you looking?
Greyhounds came in on chains,
The king wants to pit you and me alive.”
Ekim's son Ivanovich rushed,
He rushed into the wide yard,
And those Murza-Ulans
They won’t allow Ekim to see the good horse,
To his heavy club,
And heavy clubs, copper casts,—
They were three thousand pounds.
The iron club did not hit him,
That cart axle hit him,
And Ekim began to wave,
He killed the forces of seven thousand Murza-Ulans,
He killed five hundred Medellian males.
The king shouted here in a loud voice:
“Go you, Danube Ivanovich!
Quiet your faithful servant,
Leave me the strength to at least take Seeds,
And take my beloved daughter,
Afrosinya the Queen."
He calmed down his faithful servant,
I came to a high tower,
Where Afrosinya sits in a high chamber,
Behind thirty damask locks.
The violent winds will not blow against her,
The sun doesn't make your face red.
The doors to the chambers were iron,
And the punching hooks on damask steel are gilded.
Here the Danube spoke the following word:
“You can even break your leg and open the doors!”
Kicks at the iron doors,
He broke the damask hooks,
All the wards here were shaking.
The girl rushed, got scared,
It's like she's all gone crazy
Wants to kiss Danube on the mouth.
Danube son Ivanovich will say:
“Hey you, Afrosinya the princess!
And the mummer’s cous is not for the betrothed to eat.
I don't kiss you on your sugary lips,
And God has mercy on you, beautiful maiden, -
Prince Vladimir will get you.”
I took her right hand,
He led from the chambers to a wide courtyard,
And they want to mount good horses, -
The king in the Golden Horde came to his senses,
He himself said this:
“Hey you are, Danube Ivanovich!
Perhaps wait for Murza-Ulanov.”
And the king sends his Murza-Ulans
Carry the treasury of gold beyond the Danube.
And those Murza-Ulans
Thirty Orda carts were poured
Gold and silver and sandy earth,
And on top of that, the stones are semi-precious.
Soon the Danube will be equipped,
And they went to the city of Kyiv.
And they’ve been going for a week now,
And they’re already on their way to another one,
And then they bring the treasury of gold.
And the Danube ran over a wandering trail,
Not having reached Kyiv a hundred miles away,
He himself began to punish Ekima:
“Goy you, Ekim son Ivanovich!
Take Afrosinya the princess
To the capital city to Kyiv,
To the affectionate Prince Vladimir
Honestly, laudably and joyfully,—
It would be something for us to boast about
To the Grand Duke in Kyiv."
And he himself, the Danube, followed that trail
In the fresh, wandering way.
And he’s been traveling for another day,
On the fourth day the trail reached
In those amusing meadows,
Where did affectionate Vladimir the Prince go?
Always on the hunt.
There is a white tent standing in the meadows,
In that tent the fair maiden rests,
Is that Nastasya the queen?
Young Danube he was quick-witted,
I pulled out a tight bow from the deck,
He took a red-hot arrow from his quiver,
And he pulled the bow behind his ear,
I am shooting an arrow,
Which is an arrow of seven quarters.
He, the Danube, will lash the cheese oak,
But the string of the bow sang,
And mother cheese earth will tremble
From that heroic blow,
The arrow hit the mallet oak cheese,
She broke it into knife blacks,
The girl rushed out of the white tent, as if mad,
And the Danube was young and he was shrewd,
He rode off the Danube from a good horse,
He will thrust a spear into the damp earth,
He tied the horse by the spear,
And he’s so good at fighting with girls,
He hit the girl on the cheek,
And he kicked the girl in the gut, -
The female sex lives from this plumpness,
He knocked the girl off her quick feet,
He pulled out the damask chingalishka,
And he wants to cut off the white breasts.
The vtapora girl prayed:
“Hey you are, you brave, good fellow!
Don't stab me, girl, to death,
I asked my father-sir for permission, -
Who will beat me in an open field,
I, the girl, should marry him.”
And here is the Danube son Ivanovich
I was glad at her word,
He thinks to himself with his mind:
“I served, Danube, in seven hordes,
In seven hordes to seven kings,
But the red maiden could not survive,
None I found in an open field
Betrothed Resistance."
Here they got engaged.
A circle of broom bushes got married.
And soon he gave her the order to get ready
And he stole all the harness from the girl -
Kuyak and armor with chain mail.
He ordered the girl to dress up
In a simple white uniform.
And we went to the city of Kyiv.
Only Vladimir the capital of Kyiv
Vtapory rides from the golden crown,
And the prince arrived at his princely court,
And in the bright days they cleaned up,
They sat down at the cleaned tables.
And young Danube Ivanovich
I arrived at the cathedral church,
To those priests and deacons,
He came to the cathedral church,
Asks for honest favors
That bishop of the cathedral -
To marry that red maiden.
The cathedral priests were glad of this,
In those years there was no oath,
They married Danube Ivanovich,
The Danube gave the wedding five hundred rubles
And he went to Prince Vladimir.
And the prince will have it in a wide courtyard,
And they jumped off their good horses with their young wife,
And he spoke this word:
“Report to Prince Vladimir
It’s not about going to the bright grid, -
About the fact that the young princess has nothing to wear,
There is only one woman’s dress and that is the white one.”
And Prince Vladimir was shrewd,
He knows who to send -
He sent Churil Plenkovich
Issue women's dresses in color.
And here they gave out soyan of crispy damask
For that newlywed princess,
To Nastasya the Queen,
And the price for that is one hundred thousand.
And they equipped the newlywed princess,
They were led to the princely chambers,
In those bright grids,
They were seated at tables that had been cleared,
For eating sugar and drinking copper,
Two sisters already sat down at the same table.
And young Danube son Ivanovich
He married Prince Vladimir
Yes, and he got married right away,
There was a meal at the same table.
And they lived for a long time,
At Prince Vladimir's,
At the sun Seslavevich
It was a fun party
Here the drunken Danube boasted:
“What is there against me in Kyiv is the Sagittarius -
Shoot from a long bow according to signs.”
What will the young princess Apraksevna say:
“Why are you, my beloved son-in-law,
Young Danube son Ivanovich!
That there is no Sagittarius in Kyiv,
As to my dear sister Nastasya the Queen.”
Here the Danube became in trouble,
They cast lots
Who should shoot from a long bow first?
And his young wife got to shoot
Nastasya the Queen,
And the Danube got to keep the gold ring on its head.
They measured out a place for a thousand miles,
Holds the Danube at the head of a gold ring,
Nastasya pulled out a red-hot arrow,
The string of the bow has sung,
Knocked the gold ring off my head
That red-hot arrow.
Princes and boyars rushed about here,
We saw a red-hot arrow, -
That on those feathers lies that gold ring.
The Danube took note of the vtapores
His young wife.
Princess Apraksevna began to persuade him:
“Hey you are, my beloved son-in-law,
Young Danube son Ivanovich!
It’s a joke, after all.”
Yes, his young wife also said:
“Let’s leave the shooting until another day,
There is a mighty hero in my womb.
You can't finish shooting with the first arrow,
And you’ll shoot the other one,
And the third arrow will hit me.”
Vtapory princes and boyars
And all the mighty heroes are strong
He, the young Danube, was persuaded.
Vtapory Danube became excited
And he shot at the sign a mile away
In gold ring,
He began to stand for his young wife.
And vtopory his young wife
I started to bow to him
And kill yourself in front of him:
“Hey you are, my dear dear,
Young Danube son Ivanovich!
Leave the joke for three days
If not for me,
But for his unborn son.
Tomorrow I will give birth to a hero for you,
That there will be no opponent for him.”
That's why the Danube didn't steal,
Became his young wife
Nastasya the Queen
On the spot with a golden ring,
And they ordered to keep the ring on the violent head.
Shot the Danube a mile away from a heavy bow,—
And he didn’t even finish shooting with the first arrow,
He shot with another arrow,
And the third one hit her with an arrow.
The Danube came running to his young wife,
He pulled out the damask chingalishche,
Soon he ripped open her white breasts,—
The brave fellow jumped out of the womb,
He himself says this:
“Hey, my sir, my father!
As if he gave me three hours,
And I would be in the world too
I will jump and reach seven times the size of you.”
And here the young Danube son Ivanovich became sad,
He poked himself in the white breasts with a chingal,
In the heat of the moment he rushed into the fast river, -
That is why the Danube River is known to be fast,
With its mouth it fell into the blue sea.
And that’s an old thing, that’s a deed.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Danube // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Small Soviet Encyclopedia / ed. V. Vvedensky. - M., 1959. - T. 3. - P. 741. - 1277 p.
Kravchuk P. A. Records of nature. - L.: Erudite, 1993. - 216 p. — 60,000 copies. — ISBN 5-7707-2044-1.
Countries of the Danube River Basin. International Commission for the protection of the Danube River.
Danube Delta
Vasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. - Progress. - M., 1964-1973. - T. 1. - P. 552-553.
Rozwadowski J. Studia nad nazwami wód słowiańskich. - Kraków: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 1948. - P. 251.
Moszyński K. Pierwotny zasiąg języka prasłowiańskiego. - Wrocław - Kraków: Zakład narodowy imienia Ossolińskich - Wydawnictwo PAN, 1957. - P. 153.
Lehr-Spławiński T. O pochodzeniu i praojczyźnie Słowian. - Poznań: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Zachodniego, 1946. - pp. 73-75.
Trubachev O. N. Works on etymology. - M.: Manuscript monuments of Ancient Rus', 2009. - T. 4. - P. 317. - ISBN 978-5-9551-0324-2.
Gołąb Z. O pochodzeniu Słowian w świetle faktów językowych. - Kraków: Universitas, 2004. - pp. 213-215. — ISBN 83-242-0528-4.
Springs of Germany: Aachquelle (English)
Danube Commission. General information about the Danube River.
Travels along the Danube