Stryi River
Encyclopedia
The Stryi River starts in the Carpathian mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

 in western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. It snakes through the mountains running for 144 miles (231 km). After 120 miles it passes Stryi
Stryi
Stryi is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine . Serving as the administrative center of the Stryi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. Thus, the city has two administrations - the city and the raion...

. The river continues for another 20 miles before joining the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...

 near Khodoriv
Khodoriv
Khodoriv is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It has a population of 10,080.The city was first mentioned in 1394. In many historic documents it is referred to as Khodoriv-stav. In many documents it is named Khodoriv-stav. It is connected with a male name Fedir and the situation of the...

.
Route=
The river starts in a catchment area above and in the foothills of the Eastern Beskids
Beskids
The Beskids , ) is a traditional name for a series of Eastern European mountain ranges.- Definition :The Beskids are approximately 600 km in length and 50–70 km in width...

 range of the Carpathian mountains close to the village of Mokhnate, flowing down the East facing flank of the range. From here it begins to grow, being joined by many tributaries on its way North, before flowing into a series of twists and turns through gorges. It exits the hills reaching a flat area around Turka, where there was an attempt at hydro electric generation and flood control.http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9917374

The river meanders through the hills to Podgorodtsy where it meets another main tributary the Opir at Nizhneye Sinevidnoye. From here it begins to straighten, 3.5 km south east of the town, at the start of the Stryi valley where it flows in an almost straight line past Duliby and Stryi and on to Zidakov. Here the river reaches a flat area and meanders wildly meeting the Dneiper on the Eastern side of the town causing many oxbow lake
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...


Geology

The rocks in the area, known as the Stryi Depression, are arranged in three main layers. The river follows a natural fault line and is around an average of 60 feet wide, but is shallow at only an average of 10 feet deep in summer until its lower tracts where it reaches depths of 20 feet or more.

The three layers of rocks types give the Stryi its unique form, in the upper tracts it flows through several areas of hard dense rocks and in between these through softer shales and alluvial desposits. As a consequence the river bed is mostly medium sized rounded rocks and pebbles with islands of sand and rounded gravels in midstream in the middle and lower tracts.

Behaviour

The river is a popular destination for canoeing as it has many rapids in the upper tracts, as well as areas of beauty along its lower course. The river is noted for its quick and massive increases in both flow volume and speed during rain, which often cause bridges and the river itself to be impassable. This results in flooded roads and train lines which, in the these mountainous areas, tend to be close to the river.

This has quite an effect on transportation, even causing the halt of the Russian forces in the first world war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 on the 8th July 1917 as they tried to drive the Germans from the Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 army out of the region.

There have been attempts to use the river for generating Hydro-electric power, but at the present time there are no current plans to re-introduce their use.

Interesting facts

The name derives from the Scythian word "Str", meaning fast.

Where the Opir and Stryi meet, there is a legend that the Ukrainian "Robin Hood", Oleksa Dovbush
Oleksa Dovbush
Oleksa Dovbush was a famous Ukrainian outlaw, leader of opryshky, who became a folk hero, often compared to Robin Hood.-Biography:...

was wounded, and his blood stained the riverbank causing the red rocks that can be seen there.

External links

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