Dnieper Rapids

The Dnieper Rapids (Ukrainian: Дніпрові пороги, Dniprovi porohy) are the historic rapids on the Dnieper river composed of outcrops of granites, gneisses and other basement rocks of the Ukrainian Shield. The rapids began below present-day Dnipropetrovsk where the river turns south and fell 50 meters in 66 kilometers, ending before present-day Zaporizhia (its name literally means beyond the rapids).

Along this middle flow of the Dnieper, there were nine major rapids (although some sources cite a fewer number of them), obstructing almost the whole width of the river, about 30-40 smaller rapids, obstructing only part of the river, and about 60 islands and islets.

After Dnieper Hydroelectric Station was built in 1932, they were inundated by Dnieper Reservoir.

Dnieper Rapids were part of trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century. On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

Rapids existence was mentioned in Emperor Constantine VII's work De Administrando Imperio and in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.

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