Rybinsk Sea

Rybinsk Sea (or Rybinsk Reservoir) is one of the biggest man-made reservoirs in the world. It is also the northernmost point of the Volga, and it stretches for 140 km, reaching a width of up to 60 km. The route to the Baltic Sea through the Volga-Baltic system, as well as the route to the White Sea via the Belomor-Baltic Canal also starts here. One can also follow down the Volga river to the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas passing the Rybinsk lock.

The Rybinskoye Sea is the first fresh-water sea created during the Soviet period. Building began before the great Patriotic War with Fascist Germany. The construction of the dam in Rybinsk started in 1935, though the reservoir was filled only in 1947, when the Volga, Mologa and Sheksna Rivers as well as many small rivers carried into it hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of vernal (spring) floods. Some 150,000 people had to be resettled elsewhere, and the historic town of Mologa in Yaroslavl Oblast along with 663 villages have completely disappeared under water.

Nowadays the dam is less important for hydroelectric power supply (output is 346 MW) than it used to be, although in the past it was of great economic significance: twenty-five billion cubic meters of water used to put into motion turbines of the hydro plant as well as make it possible to travel to five seas.

The Rybinsk lock is very big and it is an interesting place in its technology aspect. It has two sections and vessels running in opposite directions can be transferred simultaneously.

It is even more peculiar when after the huge sea we find ourselves on a narrow river. Travelling with Vodohod you will have an opportunity to see how it happens with your own eyes, as well as to take unusual pictures to remember your trip long after it’s ended!