Flooded cities of Russia and the world

There are many settlements in the world, which for a number of reasons have gone to the sea or river bottom. These are the so-called flooded cities. Each of them has its own interesting, and often tragic, fate. Which cities flooded and what were the causes of these floods, we now find out.

Causes of flooding of cities

Causes of flooding of cities can be very diverse, but they are divided into two main groups: natural and artificial. At the same time, each of these categories is divided into many specific cases.

When people talk about artificially lowered settlements, first of all they mean the cities flooded with reservoirs. The aims of creating these man-made reservoirs were different. They were created for the operation of hydroelectric power stations, for breeding fish, storing fresh water in large volumes and so on. Especially a lot of reservoirs on the territory of Russia and other post-Soviet states was built during the times of the USSR. By type, the reservoirs are divided into river and lake.

Flooding of the territory also occurs for natural reasons. This may be a rise in sea level, groundwater or other factors. Especially the catastrophic consequences of the flood, when it is of a sudden nature.

Sunken cities of our homeland

The flooded cities of Russia are an invariable part of our history. The reasons for flooding were different. But most of them went under the water in the 30-50-ies of the last century, when large-scale constructions of reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations were conducted. How many cities were flooded at this time? It is called 9 large settlements, seven of which were located on the Volga, and one each - on the Ob and the Yenisei. Which cities flooded? They are Mologa, Kalyazin, Korcheva, Puchezh, Vesyegonsk, Stavropol-Volzhsky, Kuibyshev, Berdsk and Shagonar. Some of these settlements were flooded completely, others - in part. What the submerged cities of Russia represented and how their destiny developed, we now find out.

Mologa: the history of the city

The most famous of the lowered to the bottom of the Russian settlements - Mologa, a city flooded by the Rybinsk Reservoir. This village was located at the confluence of the river of the same name in the Volga, at a distance of just over a hundred kilometers from Yaroslavl.

The exact time of settlement of the territory where the town of Mologa appeared in the future is unknown, but already in the first half of the 14th century there was the Mologa principality as a specific part of the Yaroslavl princedom. In the following centuries, the settlement grew and developed. It became known as a fairly large shopping center. Since 1777 became the main county town, having also received its own coat of arms. It housed several churches and a monastery. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the city became a district center.

In this way Mologa developed. The submerged city at the time of descent to the bottom of the reservoir had nine hundred houses and seven thousand inhabitants.

Flooding of the Mologa

But, despite the intensive economic development of the region, in September 1935 a decree was announced about the creation of the Rybinsk Reservoir, which implied the flooding of significant territories. At that time it was to become the largest artificial reservoir in the world.

The project was launched in the same year. According to the original plan, the water level should have been raised by 98 meters. Considering that Mologa was also at this point, she was not threatened with flooding. But two years later the plan was revised, and the water level rose to 102 meters, which greatly increased the flooding area. The implementation of this project was to make a flooded city on the Volga from Mologa.

Resettlement of residents to other cities began in early 1937, mainly in the nearby village of Slip, and took 4 years. In the 1940s, the city was flooded. Under the water left private homes, business buildings, churches and Afanasyevsky Monastery.

Since then, Mologa is a flooded city. But in 2014 there was a significant decrease in the water level of the Rybinsk Reservoir, which allowed the whole streets of this once-bustling community to surface.

Kalyazin is a city on the Volga

Another flooded city on the Volga is Kalyazin. The first historical information about Kalyazin dates back to the 11th century. But for a long time it was quite a small town, which before the title of the city was far away. Life in Kalyazin began to revive after the construction of the Makarevsky Monastery in the 15th century. This monastery became a place of mass gathering of pilgrims, which served as a significant impetus for the development of the city. By the way, among them was the famous Tver traveler Afanasiy Nikitin. We can say that this spiritual institution has become a kind of "city-forming enterprise".

The city managed to get into history thanks to the famous battle near Kalyazin, in which Russian troops under the command of Prince Skopin-Shuisky in 1609 defeated the Polish army.

In 1775, Kalyazin received the status of a city and became the center of the district. From this time and until the establishment of Soviet power, this settlement was a significant regional trade center.

Kalyazin goes under the water

In 1935 the construction of the Uglich hydroelectric power station began. In this regard, in the years 1939-1940, Kalyazin was also dropped into the water. The flooded city was only partially so. First of all, the historical part of the settlement suffered. In addition, such outstanding architectural monuments as Makarevsky and Nikolo-Zhabensky monasteries were lost.

People who lived in the part of the settlement that had left under the water were moved to the uninjured areas, but, in spite of this, Kalyazin is essentially a flooded city.

Korcheva

The city of Korcheva shared the fate of Mologa. It is these settlements - the only flooded cities in Russia, which completely went under the water. The rest fell to the bottom only partially.

At one time, Korcheva was also the center of the district. But with the beginning of industrialization, the construction of the Ivankovo reservoir began. People were for the most part relocated to the village of Konakovo, and Korcheva herself was flooded.

Other wrecks on the Volga

In addition, there were four flooded cities on the Volga. These are Puchezh, Vesyegonsk, Stavropol-Volzhsky and Kuibyshev.

Puchezh was partially flooded in 1955-1957 during the construction of the Gorky reservoir. Mainly under the water left the old part of the city with architectural monuments and buildings.

The city of Vesyegonsk was flooded somewhat earlier, in 1939, like Mologa, during the construction of the Rybinsk Reservoir. As in the case of Puchezh, the city went partially to the bottom.

Another flooded city - Stavropol - had an unofficial name Stavropol-on-Volga, or Stavropol-Volzhsky, to distinguish it from the North Caucasian namesake. At the time of flooding, which occurred in the mid-fifties of the last century, 12,000 people lived in the city. All of them were relocated to a new place, near the old settlement, which took over the name of the city that had gone under the water. Thus, continuity was maintained. And in place of the former settlement, the Kuibyshev reservoir is now being poured.

The new Stavropol in 1964 was renamed in Togliatti, in honor of the famous Communist figure of Italy. Now it is one of the largest cities in Russia with a developed industry (primarily automobile industry) and seven hundred thousand people.

In the 50-ies of the XX century, the city of Kuibyshev was also flooded, until 1936 it was called Spassk-Tatar. It was located on the territory of modern Tatarstan. Before the flood, people were moved to a new place, near the ruined historical city of Bulgar, but the new settlement was still called Kuibyshev. Only in 1991 the city was renamed Bolgar.

Flooded cities of Siberia

Of the more or less significant settlements, flooded in Siberia, you can distinguish the city of Berdsk and Shagonar.

Berdsk was founded in the XVII century on one of the tributaries of the Ob, but the city became only during the Great Patriotic War. True, in this status he did not last long. In the 50 years of the last century, large-scale construction of the Novosibirsk reservoir on the Ob River began. Berdsk was subject to flooding. At a new location, located from an old city at a distance of eight kilometers, people were resettled during the years 1953-1957. As you can see, this was not a momentary process, but stretched for as long as four years. As a result of moving to the new place of the old city, it became a major industrial center. But historical buildings Berdsk completely lost, because they all were under water.

Another Siberian city that has experienced flooding is Shagonar. He was in the territory of the Tuva ASSR and was located on the bank of the Irtysh water. This city was flooded later than other settlements in Russia during the construction of the Sayano-Shushensky reservoir in the 70s of the last century. Then he was moved to a new place, seven kilometers from the old settlement. But, unlike Togliatti and Berdsk, the transfer to a new place did not have a positive impact on the development of the city. Now it is a small town with a little more than ten thousand people, consisting mostly of ethnic Tuvinians.

Flooded cities in other countries

Flooded cities exist not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. Often the reason for their flooding was also the economic activity of man. For example, in the US, about a hundred small towns have been lowered to the bottom for the construction of various power generating facilities. In addition, they produce fresh water.

For the same purpose was flooded in 1985, a settlement in Venezuela called Potosi. But since then the water level has fallen significantly, and therefore the flooded city is gradually beginning to surface.

As early as 1938, the artificial reservoir Mead was established in the American state of Nevada . It so happened that for the construction of this pond had to flood a small town of St. Thomas. Now this lake dries up, and, as in the case of Potosi, the tops of old structures appear on the surface of the water surface.

In 1950 in the north of Italy, two lakes - Rezia and Muto - were artificially merged into one. This was done for the purpose of implementing a project to produce electricity. As a result, a small town of Kuron was flooded. The only evidence that there was once a settlement here is the bell tower of the church of the XIV century, sticking out of the water.

To build the largest in Brazil, the power plant also had to flood the settlement of Petroland. The new city was erected a little further from the flooded settlement.

Also, in order to increase the country's energy supply, in 1972 a small town in the north of Portugal, called Vilarinho das Furnas, was lowered. And the settlement here was located since ancient Roman times.

In the late 1950s, the ancient Chinese city of Shi-Cheng on Lake Qingdao was flooded to create a dam on the Xian River. During the resettlement of local residents, about 290 thousand people were equipped. This is probably the largest migration in the world in the whole history, associated with the artificial flooding of the city.

In 1988, as a result of a natural disaster, the Romanian town of Besidu-Nou was flooded. The tragedy of the event is reinforced by the fact that as a result of this catastrophe all 180 inhabitants who lived there died.

Ancient cities under water

But not only in the last century there was a flooding of cities. Similar cases have occurred in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, but often they were caused not by human intervention, but by natural disasters.

Everyone probably knows the legend of Atlantis. This is the first evidence of lowering to the bottom of urban settlements, although of course its historical nature can be argued. If you believe the works of Plato, then under water as a result of the largest flood, not one city left, but a whole continent.

Another evidence of such a catastrophe is given in the Bible. This is the death of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which, according to legend, went to the bottom of the Dead Sea. Unlike the flooding of Atlantis, the hypothesis of the existence of these cities has a significant scientific basis.

Some time ago, in part or in full, Alexandria, Canopus and Heraklion in Egypt, a city on the Japanese island of Yonaguni, sunk 2000 years ago, Saeftinge in the Netherlands, died in the sea abyss in 1584, Port Royal in Jamaica, destroyed by a flood in 1692 Port Julius and Bayi in Italy, Pavlopetri and many other island towns in Greece, Atlit Yam in Israel, an unknown Mayan city in Guatemala, discovered on the bottom of Lake Atitlan, ancient cities on the island of Kekova in modern Turkey.

As for Russia, the former capital of the Khazar Khaganate - the missing city of Itil, which, according to some experts, was washed away by the Volga, should be noted above all.

This is not all flooded cities in the world, but we mentioned the most famous of them.

Flooding for good?

There has been a long debate over whether the flooding of some populated areas is justified and expedient, or can there be no worthy justification for such actions? On the one hand, the state, and its population as a whole, after the construction of a hydroelectric power station or a fresh water body have significant economic benefits.

But at the same time, we should not forget that the migration of people from one place to another causes various social and economic difficulties in adaptation, which not all people tolerate painlessly. In addition, the flooding of settlements is associated with the destruction of houses and economic structures, and often of cultural values.

And the fate of the settlements, transferred to a new place, was formed in different ways. Some have grown and become large industrial centers, becoming larger and more beautiful than the flooded cities, while others have disappeared altogether.

Therefore the problem of ethical and economic expediency of flooding of settlements is rather ambiguous.