SAILING THE WARTA

The Warta - river of Wielkopolska

The name of the river (originally Vrta) comes from the proto-Slavonic language, describing a river that flows rapidly, often changing direction. Its source lies 380 meters above sea level in Kromołow, near Zawierec. The entire length of the river from source to estuary is 808 kilometers while the sailing passage from Częstochowa to Kostrzyn over the Odra River stretches for 735 kilometers.

The main city on the Warta River of course is the capital of Wielkopolska, Poznań. Within the boundaries of the city itself the river runs for 20 kilometers. The enormous retentive dam in Jeziorsk that was finished in 1986 became a life raft for the river, which can be supplemented with water during times of draught. Its main tributaries are: Prosna, Obra, Widawka, Ner and Noteć.

The towns on theWarta have turned their backs on this river and it is high time to change this state of affairs. Look at the cities that where able to join architecture and inhabitants with the splendid advantages of nature that a river is; such as Praga, Budapest or Rome which knew how to bring its life closer to the river in a decided and successful way.

Just beyond the wall of our house, over the embankment, flows the Warta. Already for a thousand years, despite changing its corridor it has always been there, stubbornly heading west and thereby marking out the direction of interest for the people of Wielkopolska. This is the river, mother of Wielkopolska and Greater Poland.

From time immemorial the valleys of rivers were territories where settlements most eagerly gathered, this being also the case with the Warta where we presently live. The locals living on its banks made direct use, needing water for making food, bathing, washing and as a place for animals to drink. They caught crabs, mussels and fish. They soaked willows for weaving into baskets, fences and domestic walls. Rafters, wanderers and raftsmen is how those who worked on the river were named. Various goods were floated down the river as well as machines and equipment for the farm, stockbreeding and trades. Business developed on the Warta with timber, grain, salt, metal, potassium, honey, leather, wool and craft work sailing the river. All that hard working Wielkopolska was able to produce.

Often the river was imbued with symbolic meaning. Living by the river was an impetus to weave stories and create legends. The spirits of ancestors, nymphs, water sprites, demons and kelpies were bestowed upon the waters. Since times ancient, magic rituals were practiced on the Warta such as setting wreaths afloat on St John's Day eve, or sinking the yellow flowering madder plant, symbolising winter.

Apart from its benefits the river can also show its destructive side. Our fathers recalled the great floods at the beginning of the 20th century and later ones, which those of our generation were witness to. This seemingly peaceful river has contributed a lot of damage and brought fear.

Despite losing its former economic significance, its value remains timeless. The Warta allows people to rest, cools and allows to rest for a while over its banks, as if it wanted to say, my time will still come.

Wielkopolska's love for the Warta which is deeply coded in the nation's conscientiousness has a patriotic basis. General Józef Wybicki immortalized our river in the national anthem: "We'll cross the Wisła, we'll cross the Warta and be Poles".

It is from this land that we take our history of Poland whose beginnings reach back to the times of the first Slavs. Here lived a peaceful nation continually defending its existence before invaders and conquerors. Following the great French geographer Recluse who understood the river's role as follows: "Rivers carry in their waves the history and life of nations" and it is possible to say: "The river Warta, flowing into the sea, carries in its waters the fate and events of Wielkopolska people who live on its shores".

Józef Skonka