Windawski Canal

Windawski Canal Lithuanian: Ventos–Dubysos kanalas Russian: Виндавский канал
Windawski Canal in Kurtuvėnai regional park, near Žadvainiais, Šiauliai district, Lithuania
Specifications
Locks	20
Status	Abandoned
History
Construction began	1825
Date completed	n/a
Date closed	1831
Geography
Start point	Dubysa River near Bazilionai, Lithuania
End point	Venta River near Tolučiai Šaukėnų, Lithuania

The Windawski Canal (Lithuanian: Ventos–Dubysos kanalas; Russian: Виндавский канал, Vindavsky channel) is an abandoned canal connecting the Dubysa River near Bazilionai, Šiauliai district to the Venta River near Tolučiai Šaukėnų, Kelmė District of Lithuania.

The canal was designed and built in the early 19th century as part of canal system to connect the Vistula River at the center of the Kingdom of Poland with the Baltic seaport of Ventspils. The first section (the Augustów Canal) was completed, but work was halted on the Windawski Canal due to the unrest caused by the Uprising of 1831 against Russia.

Design and construction (1821–31)
In 1821 Prussia introduced repressively high customs duties for transit of Polish and Lithuanian goods through its territory, practically blocking the access to the sea for Polish traders operating outside of Prussian territory. The idea of Polish Minister of Economy, Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, was to make the new trade route independent of the Prussian seaports of Danzig (Gdańsk) on the Vistula River and Memel (Klaipėda) on the Neman River, and link the center of the Kingdom of Poland with the Baltic seaport of Ventspils (Polish: Windawa).