The Moscow Canal (), 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 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

that connects the

Moskva (river) The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through European Russia, western Russia. It River source, rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk Oblast, Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central M ...

with the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. It is located in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

itself and in the

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

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

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

prisoners, under direction of the Soviet secret police and Matvei Berman.

Construction

By the early 1930s, Moscow had begun to experience a shortage of drinking and industrial water due to population growth, and the capacity of the Rublevskoye water pipeline did not meet the capital's water needs. On June 15, 1931, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party approved the report of L. M. Kaganovich on the water situation in the capital and other cities, and adopted the recommendation to use the resources of the Volga River, located north of the capital, for water supply to Moscow, as well as for transportation purposes. On June 1, 1932, by Resolution No. 859 of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the route of the canal through Dmitrov was approved with the order to "immediately begin construction of the Volga–Moscow water canal"; the labor for only two years were allocated until November 1934. The former head of the OGPU Belomorstroy, L. I. Kogan, was appointed head of construction on June 9, 1932.Kokurin, Aleksandr Ivanovich. Dmitlag OGPU-NKVD USSR. Moscow–Volga. Local history project to study the history of the construction of the Moscow–Volga Canal, State Archives of the Russian Federation (December 13, 2019). Accessed December 26, 2020. Archived November 26, 2020 On September 14, 1932, by OGPU order No. 889, the Dmitrovsky corrective labor camp was organized, headed by the former chief supplier of the GULAG. Resources from the White Sea–Baltic Canal were transferred to the new administration " Dmitlag "Udovenko Ilya Vitalievich. Everyday life of canal army men (Dmitrovsky ITL on the construction of the Moscow–Volga canal 1932–1937) // Bulletin of the Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences: journal. – 2018. – Vol. 20 , No. 3 (2) . – P. 338–342 .. The number of prisoners at the canal construction site at one time reached 196,000 people.Ekaterina Fomina . “And now people lie there in neat rows” // Novaya Gazeta . – M. , 2017. – November 15 ( No. 127 ). – P. 21. Archived June 29, 2020. Igor Kuvyrkov of the Dolgoprudny Historical and Art Museum estimated that more than 600,000 prisoners passed through the canal construction site.Kuvyrkov Igor Vladimirovich: Profile on the official website of the Dolgoprudny Historical and Art Museum . dolgoprudnymuseum.ru . Date of access: February 1, 2020. Archived February 15, 2020 Of those, 22,842 deaths associated with work at the Canal were recorded in hospitals, not including people killed at work or who were shot. On April 17, 1937, the gates were opened and the waters of the Volga began filling the Canal. Construction was completed on July 1, and the Canal was opened at ceremonies on July 14, 1937. On April 14, 1938, at the request of the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

, former prisoners who had completed their sentences and voluntarily remained for the construction of the Moscow-Volga Canal and other sites had their convictions expunged. 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 The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

. As such, it is sometimes called the "port of the five seas" (). 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 ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

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

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

and the Moscow Canal. The accompanying statue of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

of similar size was demolished in 1961 during the period of

de-stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...

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 German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

plans were to encircle the city from the north and south. To prevent this, water was pumped from the canal and reservoirs into the surrounding plains.

Dimensions

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

Gallery

Тушинский_тоннель.jpg, Tushino tunnel lies under the Moscow Canal Volga, Volga (Bachelis Bridge).jpg, Bachelis Bridge on Moscow Canal from Volga-Volga movie Dubna Lenin.JPG, Statue of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

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