Verknė

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Verknė
Galaverknė
Verknė at Derionys

Verknė at Derionys

Data
location Lithuania
River system Memel
Drain over Memel  → Baltic Sea
origin west of Rūdiškės
54 ° 30 ′ 54 ″  N , 24 ° 44 ′ 51 ″  E
Source height 140  m
muzzle near Birštonas in the Memel Coordinates: 54 ° 36 ′ 41 ″  N , 24 ° 4 ′ 7 ″  E 54 ° 36 ′ 41 ″  N , 24 ° 4 ′ 7 ″  E
Mouth height 40  m
Height difference 100 m
Bottom slope 1.3 ‰
length 77.3 km
Catchment area 703 km²
Left tributaries Samė, Vapsa, Obeltis
Right tributaries Guostė, Alšia
Flowing lakes Baluosys, Vilkokšnis, Sienis, Antakmeniai, Skrebis
Reservoirs flowed through Aukštadvaris reservoir, Jundeliškės
Small towns Aukštadvaris
Communities Galaverknis, Tolkiškės (Trakai district); Vydžionys, Gripiškės, Pikelionys, Verbyliškės, Jundeliškės, Žideikonys (Prienai district); Medeikonys ( Birštonas municipality )

The Verknė ( Polish Wierzchnia ) is a 77.3 kilometer long river in Lithuania . It flows into the Memel as a right tributary at Birštonas and connects two regional parks . The river flows through a sparsely populated natural and cultural landscape and is one of the cleanest rivers in the country. In its catchment area with an area of ​​703 km² there are around 80 lakes with an area of ​​around 14 km².

Regional parks

The Aukštadvaris Regional Park ( Lithuanian Aukštadvario regioninis parkas ) was established in 1992 to preserve the natural and cultural landscape of the Verknė and Strėva rivers . The IUCN Category V protected area currently covers an area of ​​170 km².

In the Verknė area, these include the Aukštadvaris reservoir and more strictly protected nature reserves :

  • Above the lake, the protected area of ​​the Verknė bank, established in 2005, Verknės aukštupio kraštovaizdžio draustinis with an area of ​​11 km² and the lakes Gilandis (5 ha), Gilūšis (5 ha), Pakalnių (3 ha) and Solis (15 ha);
  • below the reservoir, the nature reserve Verknės kraštovaizdžio draustinis, established in 1996, with an area of ​​19.7 km² and
  • the botanical-zoological reserve Verknės botaninis-zoologinis draustinis, designated in 2005, with an area of ​​4.19 km² on the border between the districts of Trakai and Prienai.
The spotted moorhen is under category 3 (R) on the Lithuanian Red List

The spawning grounds of salmon fish and the habitats of rare species of fauna are particularly protected :

and flora :

A number of these plants and animals are under different categories on the Lithuanian Red List of Endangered Species . During the socialist era, a landscape protection area with an area of ​​40 km² was created in 1960 and an ichthyological protection area for the spawning grounds in 1974 .

The Memel Loop Regional Park (Nemuno kilpų regioninis parkas) has an area of ​​250.8 km² (IUCN V) and was also established in 1992. In addition to the area of ​​the three great Memel loops, it also includes the lower reaches of the Verknė and its side valleys from the Jundeliškės reservoir.

In terms of area, it is the seventh and fifth largest regional park in the country.

course

The Verknė in front of the Baluosys
Vilkokšnis
Aukštadvaris reservoir (Nava)
The river 24 km from the mouth

The headwaters of the river is the southeastern part of the Dzūkija highlands, which is a moraine landscape in southern Lithuania. The Verknė rises as Galaverknė at the settlement Galaverknis with six inhabitants, about five kilometers west of the city of Rūdiškės . After flowing through the Baluosys (0.34 km²) and Vilkokšnis (3.38 km²) lakes with the 37-inhabitant town of Tolkiškės, it receives the name Verknė and then flows through the two Verknaitis lakes (2 ha each). The natural and uneven river meanders very strongly, but flows in an almost westerly direction roughly parallel to the A16 trunk road ( Europastraße 28 ).

After the lakes of the shore protection area, the Sienis follows with an area of ​​1.02 km². The fish include pike , roach , bream , tench , perch , rudd , bleak and white bream . After 400 meters, the Verknė enters the Aukštadvaris reservoir (Aukštadvario tvenkinys) . When the dam was built in 1959, the lakes Nava (1.2 km²), Baluosėlis, Baluosiukas and Zamkelis were covered by the reservoir with an area of ​​about 3 km². Two 180 kilowatt turbines have been supplying 1 million kilowatt hours a year since 1960 .

With 975 inhabitants, Aukštadvaris is the only large settlement on the river. After three small lakes Antakmeniai (82.6 ha), Marčio (2.5 ha) and Skrebis (18 ha), the Verknė flows through the other two protected areas. In the district of Prienai the following places (population in brackets) are Vydžionys (26), Gripiškės (113), Pikelionys (88), Verbyliškės (43), Jundeliškės (75). Another hydropower plant was built in the latter location in 1958 . The reservoir has an area of ​​24 hectares. There is a hydrological station in Verbylškės where the water level, current speed and ice thickness are measured.

In the lower reaches the border of the Rajongemeinde Prienai in the north and the community Birštonas in the south is formed by the 10 to 30 meter wide river. From Jundeliškės the Verknė runs in a north-westerly direction. Your valley is now cut deeper. The hamlets of Žideikonys (4 inhabitants) on the north and Medeikonys (9 inhabitants) on the south are located near the confluence with the Memel. The city center of Birštonas is three kilometers above, the Memel estuary is 286 kilometers away. The reservoir area of ​​the Kaunass Sea (Kauno marios) can extend up to two kilometers into the Verknė estuary. Another regional park was set up in the area of ​​the actual reservoir.

Hydrology

At high tide

The Verknė is up to 25 meters wide and 1.5–2.5, a maximum of 4 meters deep. During spring floods, the water level rises an average of 1.3 meters above the summer water level. Accordingly, the runoff is 35% in spring, 27% in winter, 20% in autumn and 18% in summer. The mean discharge at the mouth is 5.69 m³ / s, in Verbylškiai 5.55 m³ / s, in summer at least 1.15 m³ / s and at high water a maximum of 116 m³ / s. The bed slope is 1.3 ‰. Due to the sparsely populated region, the Verknė is one of the cleanest rivers in Lithuania.

Tributaries

The largest tributaries of the Verknė are Alšia with a length of 38.3 km and a catchment area of ​​137.8 km² and Obeltis with 17.1 km and a catchment area of ​​102.3 km². The receiving waters are (length in kilometers) :

  • left: Strūzda (7.5), Samė (14.8), Adinčiava (6.1), Vapsa (10.1), Obeltis (17.1), Dindžiakė (9.3);
  • right: Balina (3.3), Lėlelė (6.2), Guostė (14.2), Alšia (38.3), Svėdubė (8.0).

history

Wallburg Paverknių Piliakalnis and the river Verknė

A Stone Age settlement was uncovered on the Sienis . The remains of numerous ramparts from the 10th to 14th centuries have been preserved.

Aukštadvaris received city ​​rights in 1569 . In Žydkaimis on Lake Vilkokšnis there was a Jewish community that had been involved in agriculture since the mid-19th century, although this was forbidden in Tsarist Russia. In 1936, despite emigration, they owned 63 percent of the agricultural area. The community was supported by ORT in 1930 .

The ichthyologist Mykolas Kazimieras Girdvainis (Polish Girdwoyń, 1841–1925) set up trout breeding tanks in Aukštadvaris around 1900 . The proceeds were delivered to the dining table of the Russian tsars. Between 1911 and 1913 there was a project to build a canal from the Memel to Jundeliškės. This would have shortened the journey over the Memel loop by around 40 kilometers.

The first canoe tours took place in the 1930s. The hydrologist Steponas Kolupaila (1882–1964) described the navigation of the river in 1939. Partisan groups were active in the region during the Second World War .

The area has long been characterized by rural exodus.

Cultural and natural monuments

Ožkų pečius

Directly north of the estuary on the high bank of the Memel is the stone object Ožkų pečius , which was created by the erosion of the river. The "shoulder of the goat" (translated) is about six meters high.

About a kilometer above the mouth of the river passes through the remains of Wallburg Paverknių Piliakalnis . The 14 meter high castle hill is only a few meters away from the Verknė and is threatened by erosion with every flood . Only about 1500 meters as the crow flies is the Voseliūn auf piliakalnis, the nearest castle hill on the north bank of the Verknė. In the direction of the source follow the ramparts Babronių piliakalnis , Stakliškių piliakalnis , Lepelionių piliakalnis ( Napoleono kepure - " Napoleon 's hat "), Aukštadvario piliakalnis , Kartuvių kalnas , Kazokų kalnu , VladislavosŽ piliakalnisų , Alko kalnij . And piliakalnis . Several are designated as archaeological “monuments of national importance”.

Usually only the dams of the former mills have been preserved.

Water sports and tourism

The Verknė can be ridden with pleasure craft such as kayaks and canoes . The river is suitable for beginners. There is a campsite in Pikelionys .

literature

  • Stanislovas Buchaveckas: Verknė . 1984.
  • Steponas Kolupaila: Mūsų vandens keliai. Kaunas 1933. Significantly expanded new edition, Kaunas 1938. KELIAS XXVIII. VERKNĖ.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ protectedplanet.net: Aukstadvario regioninis parkas in Lithuania. (English, accessed on May 11, 2019)
  2. ↑ protectedplanet.net: Nemuno kilpu regioninis parkas in Lithuania. (English, accessed on May 11, 2019)
  3. ↑ Upė Verknė, Nemuno intakas. Aprašymas, informacija, vandens turizmo maršrutas, atstumai. Vandens lygis . (Lithuanian, accessed May 11, 2019)
  4. ^ A Jewish village in aid of Jewish farmers . (English, accessed on May 11, 2019)

Web links

Commons : Verknė  - collection of images, videos and audio files