Vistula River

Floodplains of large rivers are rarely the subject of archaeological research. The excavations at the cemetery of the Przeworsk culture at Czersk, Piaseczno County, and studies on the modern settlement in the Urzecze (literally at-the-river’s) microregion near Warsaw yielded data about the settlement in the Middle Vistula Valley across the ages and prompted a non-invasive examination of the area (...) The character of settlement in the area, specific due to the natural conditions, can be illustrated on the example of the settlement cluster near the village of Glinki, situated on the right bank of the Vistula, at the latitude of Góra Kalwaria. Settlement in periodically flooded areas is focused only in a few selected places, where the shape of the terrain guarantees relatively safe shelter during periods of regular but hard to predict overflows and dangerous inundations. In the case of the cluster in Glinki, small, elevated areas, difficult to notice in the field and surrounded by oxbow lakes that form natural reservoirs (polders), are legible. The oldest traces of settlement date back to the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, then to the pre-Roman and Roman period and
the Middle Ages, up to modern and contemporary times. The ‘insular’ nature of settlement  in the floodplains of the Middle Vistula is confirmed by the observed presence of other, similar clusters situated on the former sandbanks and islands or their remains. The specificity of natural conditions and the rhythm of life in these areas influenced the flavour and specificity of the local culture, a phenomenon that has been well described for modern times. It is possible that in the earlier time periods some local differences within the large archaeological cultures are also to be expected. This can only be confirmed by future excavations in the area.

The hydrological conditions, suspended matter concentrations and vertical particulate matter flux were measured as the River Vistula flood wave (maximum discharge) was flowing into the southern part of the Gulf of Gdańsk on 26 May 2010. Extending offshore for several tens of kilometres, the river plume was well stratified, with the upper layer flowing away from the shore and the near-bottom water coastwards.

Postać Alfonsa Grotowskiego - budowniczego Wodociągu Pragskiego, zdaje się być obecnie niesłusznie zapomniana w świadomości mieszkańców Stolicy. Był wielokrotnie nagradzany: medalem brązowym na wstążce św. Andrzeja, Order św. Anny 3-ciej klasy. Odbył też wiele podróży zagranicznych, celem podniesienia swoich kompetencji, poznania nowoczesnych rozwiązań technologicznych i zaadaptowania ich do warunków i potrzeb warszawskich. delegowany był m.in. do Anglii, Niemiec, Imperium Rosyjskiego, Austro-Węgier, Holandii czy Francji. Grotowski zapisał się w historii Warszawy przełomu XIX i XX wieku jako twórca wodociągu Pragskiego, Urzędnik Magistratu miasta Warszawy, Inżynier Magistratu, jeden z założycieli Towarzystwa Higienicznego. Był członkiem komitetu budowy kościoła Wszystkich Świętych w Warszawie. Punkty wodne, które zaprojektował lub współtworzył ciągle można znaleźć w Warszawie - kaskada i staw w ogrodzie Krasińskich, układ zasilania w wodę w Parku Ujazdowskim oraz fontanna, która obecnie znajduje się przed kinem “Muranów”.

Przez wieki, w nurcie rzeki Wisły pojawiały się różne utwory rzeczne w postaci łach czy też wysp. W XIX wieku szczególną sławę zyskały dwie z nich - Monte Christo oraz WIlcza Wyspa. Ich popularność miała swe odzwierciedlenie w warszawskiej prasie codziennej, Na przestrzeni lat wzmianki od nich można było odnaleźć m.in. w Kurjerze Warszawskim, Gazecie Warszawskiej, Kurjerze Porannym, a nawet w krakowskim Czasie. Wyspy te były niemymi świadkami różnych wydarzeń, często radosnych i rozrywkowych, edukacyjnych, związanych z pracami hydrologicznym, ale i tych o przestępczym charakterze. W artykule opisano pokrótce mieszkańców warszawskiego Powiśla, dla których to Wisła była najważniejszym elementem życia, dającym wyżywienie i zarobek, niekoniecznie legalny.

The study aimed to determine the distribution, numbers, and forms of human activity on the banks and in the riverbed of the middle part of the Vistula River. This section of the river is the most valuable for nature and is located between Puławy and the mouth of the Pilica River (km 373-548 of the navigation route). Censuses were conducted in May-June 2014 and 2015, the breeding season of the key species of the riverbed avifauna. The presence and different forms of human activity were recorded, including fishing, camping, water tourism, hiking, motorized tourism, and grazing animals. The frequent presence of people on the Vistula River was much greater in June than in May. In both months, the most popular form of spending time by humans in the riverbed was fishing. While in areas less valuable for birds, fishing strongly dominated, on parts of the river with key breeding habitats for birds, more aggressive forms of recreation, camping and motorized tourism (quads, motorcycles, off-road vehicles), were reported as often or even more frequently. The increasing popularity of these forms of recreation is a very serious threat to the fauna. They not only disturb the breeding birds but also physically destroy breeding habitats and nests with eggs and increase the mortality of chicks of gulls, terns, and other waders.

The paper concerns the possibilities of using educational paths as one form of fieldwork for activating learning. Educational paths, also fostering informal education of a wider society, allow for conducting direct observations and measurements, and are a great source of knowledge about the immediate environment. This form of learning enables interdisciplinary education, combining geography with other school subjects. To become a useful tool in education, however, an educational path needs to be carefully designed and built and accompanied by teacher’s materials (guide and handouts). All the examples of educational paths given in the paper come from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship (Poland).