The mysterious, invisible Neglinnaya river is the subject of myths and legends, a place of adventure and an object of research. The names of streets and geographical objects speak of the existence of the river, but few have seen it. A visitor may ask himself this question: "Where is the Neglinnaya River?" And mocking Muscovites can explain to him for a long time how to find her. But the life of the river was not always as sad as it is today. There were happy free times in her biography.
origin of name
The river in the center of Moscow over its long history has changed several names: Neglimna, Neglinna, Samoteka. The non-clay river is a name, on the one hand, very familiar and native, on the other hand, the word “non-clay” sounds somehow inorganic for the Russian language. There are several conjectures about its meaning.
Version 1. There is an assumption that the toponym “Neglinnaya” came from the word “neglink”, meaning a small swamp with beating keys.
Version 2. G.P. Smolitskaya hypothesized that the name of the river comes from the phrase "not clay." The Neglinka riverbed is sandy and this is what the name indicates, according to the researcher. Many linguists say that such word formation is not typical of the Russian language and do not believe in this hypothesis.
Version 3. There is an assumption that the name came from the word "megl", which was also pronounced as "negly", "negly" and meant "larch". The banks of the river in ancient times were covered with such trees, and supposedly the name of the river arose from here.
Version 4. Philologist VV Toporov, after analyzing ancient languages, said that the name comes from the phrase “not glim in” from the Baltic dialect, meaning “shallow river”.
None of the versions found sufficient evidence or rebuttal. The middle name of the river - Samoteka has an easier explanation. It means a river that flows from somewhere, in this case from a pond, on its own.
Geographical position
Communication Moscow - Neglinka is very close. In ancient times, peoples always settled near the water, whenever possible choosing places between two rivers. Neglinnaya is the right tributary of the Moskva River, the confluence point formed a very successful territory, protected on both sides by water, which from ancient times was inhabited by people. The river originates in the Maryina Grove area, the old channel today can be determined by the natural lowlands in the Streletskaya and Novosuschevskaya streets, as well as in the adjacent alleys. In the area of Streletsky lane Neglinka merged with the river Naprudnaya. In total, the river had 17 tributaries. Several ponds are formed on the Neglinka path: Miussky, Suschevsky, Antropovye pits. They fill the river, making it full-flowing. Further on its way, several artificial reservoirs were created, the largest of which is Lower Samotechny. In total, 10 ponds are formed on it.
The modern Neglinka flows under Catherine's and Samotechny Squares, under Samotechnaya, Trubnaya and Teatralnaya Squares, under Neglinnaya Street, along the Kremlin, at which it flows into the Moscow River.
Start of observation
For the first time, the Neglinka river is mentioned in ancient Russian chronicles from the 14th century under the name Neglimna. The river was then an important transport and defensive resource. Goods were melted along it, they caught fish in it, it served as a barrier against attacks on the Kremlin. Then the river without any restrictions flowed through the city and suburbs, giving names to streets, lanes and squares, providing the population with water. She carried her waters past the grand-princely settlement Sushchevo, near the grand-princely village of Naprudnoe. In those days, Moscow adapted to the Neglinka course, bridges were built across it, and it played an important role in the life of Muscovites.
Neglinka's life until the 17th century
In the 15th century, the inhabitants of Moscow began to transform the river to their needs. Part of it was enclosed in a stone pipe, so Trubnaya Square appeared on the map of the capital. Four bridges were thrown across it: Kuznetsk, Troitsky, Petrovsky, Voskresensky. In the 16th century, the Neglinnaya River filled its waters with a moat near the Kremlin; several artificial dams were created on it. A note has been preserved in which the Moscow prince orders Aleviz Fryazin to stone the banks of the river and make a dam. Several mill wheels were installed on the river, and Neglinka waters were also used in the work of the mint and the cannon yard. Often the river became a source of problems for Muscovites, it often overflowed, and this harmed the inhabitants of the capital.
Neglinka's New Life in the 18th Century
During the Northern War, the Neglinnaya River played an important role. On it, on the orders of Peter the Great, defenses were erected - bollards, a channel was also set a little to the west and the Swan Pond was lowered. The Swedes could not reach Moscow, and the defensive structures were later dismantled. In the last quarter of the 18th century, it was decided to make a modern stone embankment on Neglinnaya. The project was created by architect-engineer Gerard Ivan Kondratievich. Muscovites liked the embankment and became a popular place for walking. In those days, the ecological situation was quite favorable, and the waters of Neglinka and Samotechny Ponds were a suitable place for fishing. The purity of the water was monitored by special police officers. They forbade bathing horses and washing clothes in the river. Ponds were handed over to entrepreneurs for breeding fish, and in winter they served as a source of ice for city glaciers - refrigerators. But still, in places of dams, standing water bloomed and smelled badly, which caused discontent of local residents. In general, the river during these years was an integral part of urban life.
River in captivity
In the 19th century, the river began to interfere with the life of the city more and more, it flowed, it did not smell very good and took up too much space. Then the idea came to enclose it in the city within a stone pipe. Yegor Gerasimovich Cheliev, a military engineer, inventor, surveyor, was tasked with developing a project for a suitable structure. During the work on the project, Cheliev invented a special type of cement, which hardens under water. A stone pipe was created, into which the waters of the river were sent. Neglinnaya street became a roadway, which greatly facilitated traffic in the city. However, the construction of the pipe was not perfect, the river periodically escaped from captivity, especially during the flood season. In addition, cleaning the pipe was troublesome and was forgotten all the time, which led to blockages and the spill of the river. In the late 19th century, a second collector was built to reduce the load on the structures and prevent river spills.
Difficult 20th century
In the twentieth century, the city authorities did not have time to equip the river, there were too many other pressing problems. However, the fact that Neglinnaya Street, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and even Theater Square with the Alexander Garden were often flooded with the foul-smelling waters of Neginka escaping, forced the city authorities to think about taming the river. In the 1970s, a new, modern collector was built, which partially solved the problems. In 1997, a large-scale reconstruction of the Manege Square created an imitation of a freely flowing river. However, this is an illusion; water from the fountain is let in here, since the state of the river does not allow it to be brought out for general inspection.
