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The Augustów Canal - Zabytek.pl

History monuments Augustów

Address
Augustów

Location
woj. podlaskie, pow. augustowski, gm. Augustów (gm. miejska)

The Rivers Biebrza and Narew are linked to the River Nemen by the longest historic monument in Poland - the Augustów Canal, connecting the drainage basins of the Vistula and the Nemen via the Suwalskie Lakelands.

The canal is 101.3 km long, 80 km of which lies in Poland, the remainder in Belarus. It is navigable for vessels with a displacement of up to 100 tons. It passes through the former lands of the mysterious Sudovians and the majestic Augustów Primeval Forest. The idea of creating a waterway to link the Vistula and the Nemen was conceived in the late 16th century, and during the reign of King Stanisław August Poniatowski it became a feasible project. However, it was not until the introduction of Prussian economic restrictions in 1823, blocking Poland’s access to the Baltic, that these plans were finally implemented.

Polish and Russian military engineers, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ignacy Prądzyński, carried out land surveys at selected points, and in early 1824 provisional plans for the route were drafted, and then sent for approval to expert technical commissions. Based on these designs, in late May 1824 Tsar Alexander I took the decision to initiate the canal’s construction, entrusting this task to Poland. By mid-1825 provisions for the development were already in place (brickworks, a steel mill and foundry, and workshops for blacksmiths, carpenters and metalworkers; technologies had been devised and production of hydraulic lime had commenced) and work on building the locks had begun. The project was financed by state treasury budget surpluses (up to 1833), and later by loans from the Bank of Poland, who were given recompense in the form of free lease of woodlands in the Augustów and Kurpie regions. Up until 1831 construction was carried out by military units; after the disastrous November Uprising and the dissolution of the Polish army, civilian organisations took over. Work was completed in 1839.

Designed to play a significant economic role, the canal’s status waned when the political situation changed (Prussia’s prompt withdrawal from the customs war). Real crisis emerged after 1850, with the definition of the customs frontier between Russia and the Kingdom of Poland. Another blow came with the development of the railway network in the latter half of the 19th century. In the early 1860s concerted efforts were made to exploit the dammed water in the canal for industrial purposes, but the outbreak of the January Uprising precluded the implementation of these plans. The canal became a local route animating the neglected north-east part of the Congress Kingdom and the territories of Lithuania and Belarus. It was used primarily for transporting timber. Its previous intended use prohibited any major modernisation, hence it has survived to this day in virtually unaltered form. The Augustów Canal system comprises a complex of highly advanced hydraulic structures. The direct and efficient connection of lakes and rivers, rather than reliance on side canals, was a relatively unusual phenomenon at that time. The installations are of a comparable size to those found on the world’s major waterways. A characteristic attribute of the canal is that its engineering structures harmonise with their natural surroundings. The extant components of the hydraulic devices still work in accordance with the engineering systems of the first half of the 19th century. Fourteen of the locks are located in Poland; nine of them retain their original 19th-century structures, the remainder do not differ in size from their original versions (and largely operate in keeping with the ruling principles of the 1830s). The installations in Belarus (three locks with an additional one in the border zone) are all original structures.

In the mid-1950s and the 1960s the political and administrative authorities responsible for the canal became increasingly determined to modernise its facilities so that they would fully meet the demands of contemporary transportation. In the face of social pressure - in consequence of a campaign triggered by a memorial held by the Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Augustowskiej society - in October 1968 the central section of the Augustów Canal (c. 50 km) was listed in the historic monuments register, together with its entire infrastructure and a 300-metre-wide zone of protected land on either bank, as a homogeneous historic complex. At the time this was a revolutionary measure in Eastern Europe.

Category: technical monument

Protection: Historical Monument

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_20_PH.8570