The Moscow Canal (russian: Кана́л и́мени Москвы́), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

that connects the Moskva River with the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...

. It is located in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

itself and in the Moscow Oblast. The canal connects to the Moskva River in Tushino (an area in the north-west of Moscow), from which it runs approximately north to meet the Volga River in the town of Dubna, just upstream of the dam of the

Ivankovo Reservoir Ivankovo Reservoir or Ivankovskoye Reservoir (russian: link=no, Иваньковское водохранилище), informally known as the Moscow Sea, is the uppermost reservoir on the Volga, in Moscow and Tver Oblasts of Russia, located some ...

. The length of the canal is . It was constructed between 1932 and 1937 by 200,000

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

prisoners, under direction of the

Soviet secret police The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and Matvei Berman. With the canal, Moscow is connected to Russia's Unified Deep Water System, a large system of canals and rivers in European Russia, which created access to five seas: the White Sea,

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, Sea of Azov, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. As such, it is sometimes called the "port of the five seas" (russian: порт пяти морей). Apart from transportation, the canal also provides for about half of Moscow's water consumption, and the shores of its numerous reservoirs are used as recreation zones. One of the world's tallest statues of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

, high, built in 1937, is located at Dubna at the confluence of the

and the Moscow Canal. The accompanying statue of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

of similar size was demolished in 1961 during the period of de-stalinization.

World War II

During World War II and the Battle of Moscow, the canal played an instrumental role in the defense of Moscow.

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

plans were to encircle the city from the north and south. To avoid this, water was pumped from the canal and reservoirs, which stopped their advance in this direction.

Dimensions

The minimum depth of the canal is , and its lock dimensions are .

Gallery

Тушинский_тоннель.jpg, Tushino tunnel lies under the Moscow Canal 1937 shluz tushini.jpg, Bachelis Bridge over Moscow Canal Volga, Volga (Bachelis Bridge).jpg, Bachelis Bridge on Moscow Canal from

Volga-Volga ''Volga-Volga'' (russian: Волга-Волга) is a Soviet musical comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called th ...

movie Dubna Lenin.JPG, Statue of Lenin at Dubna Химкинский мост - panoramio.jpg, Khimki railway bridge Moscow, Khimkinsky bridge over the canal (31469775952).jpg, Khimkinsky bridge,Moscow

References

Canals in Russia Economy of Moscow Geography of Moscow Canals opened in 1937 CMoscow Cultural heritage monuments in Moscow {{MoscowOblast-geo-stub