Żuławy Wiślane

Żuławy Wiślane (fens, plural from "żuława") is the alluvial delta area of Vistula, in large part reclaimed artificially by means of dykes, pumps, channels (over 17000 km of total length) and extensive drainage system. In shape similar to reversed triangle formed by branching of Vistula into two separate rivers, Leniwka and Nogat at its height, confined by rivers themselves, and closed by Mierzeja Wiślana at its base. It is a deforested, agricultural plain that covers 1000 square km.

Etymology

There is no definite statement for the origin of name "Żuławy". Term is believed to be derived from word "solov" in language of the Baltic tribe Prussian or Polish noun "żuł" for mud.

History

Prehistory and initial settlement

The first traces of settlements reach back to the period between 2500 and 1700 BC, being proved by excavation sites from Niedźwiedziówka, Lubieszewo, Ostaszewo, Kaczynos, Kończewice, Krasnołęka, Lasowice Wielkie or Lichnowy. They appear to have been of impermanent form as they served presumably for fishery and amber acquirement. The range and density of settlements had not changed in a course of the next centuries until around the ninth century, when emergence of the Baltic tribe Estowie boosted occupation of Żuławy Wiślane. One, the best known is Truso, a large fishery-trading center in present Janów Pomorski near Elbląg. Before the thirteenth century population was generally restricted to morainic heights around the delta, in the surroundings of Gdańsk, Miłobądzu, Gorzędzieju, Lichnowach and Węgrach (the Slavic people), and alongside lake Drużno and Wysoczyźnie Elbląskiej (for Old Prussians).