Salgir in Crimea: description of the river, its location

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

According to historians, the name of the river has the Taurian, dot-Tatar, Indo-Aryan origin. Translated from the Türkic language, “salgir” means “male name”. Also, many researchers claim that the name of the river has Circassian roots, because “sal” means “tributary”, and “gir” means “water”. It is worth noting that Today there are several names that are used for this river. For example, this is Salgir Baba, Salgir Father.

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

There are several versions of where Salgir originates. According to one version, Salgir emerges from the longest cave of the peninsula - Kizil-Koba. But some local historians also hold the opinion that the river “starts” on the Angarsk pass.

This river flows into the lake Sivash. It is this reservoir separates the peninsula from the mainland. And it should be noted that Salgir crosses almost the entire Central Crimea.

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

Also among the major right tributaries of the Salgir is the Biyuk-Karasu river. Its length is 86 km. Translated from the Turkic, it means "big black water." That was the name of the river, which comes out of the ground from the springs.

As tributaries r. Salgir known and other rivers of Crimea. These are Kuchuk-Karasu, and also Small Salgir, Kurtz, Tavel, Zuya, Besh-Terek. The river has many tributaries in the form of small streams, which completely dry up in the summer period.

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

Also, some information and description of the main characteristics of this river are presented in the “Economic-geographical description of Ak-Mosque and the county” as of 1798. From these data it follows that the Salgir River was previously considered affluent and able to spread in the spring and summer period up to 700 meters wide. Thus, during the floods, this river posed a threat to the inhabitants of the settlements located on its banks.

It is also worth noting that exactly p. Salgir was extremely reliable protection for one of the most famous Scythian fortresses in ancient Crimea - Scythian Naples. In ancient times, this city was also the capital of the late Scythian state. Salgir also defended abroad in 1777, when on one of the banks of the river was located the camp of an outstanding Russian commander - Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov.

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

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

It is this river that provides the peninsula with water and participates in the work of the Simferopol Thermal Power Plant, which, in turn, satisfies about 40% of Simferopol’s citywide thermal energy, and also feeds nearby villages like Gresovsky, Komsomolsky and others.

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

The Salgir River is a raging stream, and a calm river surface, and water, “chained” in the urban array. Her character is seething and unpredictable. At the top of the Salgir is very unstable. On this segment you can find waterfalls and a stormy type of flow. This site is a typical mountain river.

In the steppe part of the river is quiet, it gently descends towards the plain, where it connects with the pool of Sivash Lake. This site is subject to strong drying in the summer hot period.

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

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

The main food of the Salgir River is rain and thawed snow, but this river also receives quite a large amount of water from underground sources. If you look at the change in the water level in Salgir, then we note that the most full-flowing is the period from the end of February to May.

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

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

Also, visitors can always enjoy and excellent fishing. There is a crucian carp in the river, but carp and carp are less common here. Avid fishermen say that the mullet can be caught in the waters of Salgir, and perch and pike can be caught from predators. But in the upper reaches of the river sometimes trout swims.

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

Recently, there has been a rather difficult situation with the environmental situation in the Salgir River basin.Most of the coastline is very polluted, and the state of the water wants the best. Therefore, one of the main problems of the authorities at present is the adoption of measures to improve this situation.

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

Since ancient times, it is rumored that the Salgir River stores in its waters a lot of precious metals, especially gold. Therefore, attempts to look for this metal in the waters of Salgir were made repeatedly. However, gold mining in these places was not crowned with success. As one of the legends says, there was once a young Khan. He found a cave at the foot of Chatyr-Dag, where there was a lot of gold.

The man began to collect gold, but the thirst for profit so swallowed him that, fearing to lose his prey, he attacked the little girl and beat her with a lash to a pulp.

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

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

See the video review of the Salgir River in the next video.