By steamboat to "Zdravnyovo". A river excursion route was presented in Vitebsk

For the first time since Ilya Repin lived in Zdravnevo, guests arrived at the artist's estate by water. Last Wednesday, the "Vitebsk" motor ship with unusual tourists on board docked here. The delegates of the VIII session of the industry-specific Councils of the Transport Coordination Council of the CIS member states, which opened in Minsk the day before, were the first to chart a water route to this historical place. One of the planned events of the session was a visit to the Vitebsk region.

"We came here to study the inland water transport routes of the Republic of Belarus," said Alexander Zakharenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Maritime and River Transport, Head of the River Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus. "New facilities have appeared in the river infrastructure of the northern region, which have undoubtedly interested our foreign colleagues. And first of all, it is the largest ship passage lock in Belarus, opened on November 1 last year near the village of Luzhesno at the Vitebsk HPP. Its operation is the focus of the delegation of CIS water transport workers who arrived in Vitebsk. It includes specialists in the field of maritime and inland water transport from Russia (including Moscow and St. Petersburg) and Kazakhstan. In addition to visiting the lock and the new hydroelectric power station, the host party has planned an excursion for us to the Repin Museum-Estate and a boat trip to it along the Western Dvina. This surprise turned out to be very pleasant and evoked the warmest emotions and great gratitude from our foreign guests.

According to the head of the lock, Dmitry Demeshkevich, this hydraulic structure is capable of passing river vessels around the clock in both directions. The dimensions of the lock chamber (width – 13.5 meters, length – 94, and depth 2.5 meters), as well as the drawbridge above it, are designed for barges, motor ships, and boats plying the Western Dvina.

A staff of 15 people serves the lock in shifts, operating around the clock. The process of locking a vessel takes no more than 40 minutes, and the river, full-flowing thanks to the HPP dam, will not cause problems for travelers.

The head of the Vitebskvodtrans branch of RUESP Dnepro-Bugsky Waterway, Anatoly Leonov, is convinced that thanks to the opening of such a lock, the river doubles its shipping capacity and becomes even more attractive for domestic and foreign tourists.

We should not miss the opportunity to open new routes, including water excursions from Vitebsk to Zdravnevo, involving travel agencies and entrepreneurs capable of making the trips informative and with a rich entertainment program.

For their part, the river transport workers are ready to ensure the safe passage of passenger ships that are on the balance of Gordormost. Anatoly Vasilievich has repeatedly discussed this issue with representatives of various levels of local authorities, who approve of the emerging prospects for the development of tourism and recreation in the region.

The Ministry of Transport is also interested in increasing the use of the lock by passenger vessels, which will undoubtedly attract additional tourist flows to the country. By the way, these issues were discussed on the motor ship "Vitebsk" on the way to Zdravnevo.

Svetlana MITINA, Photos by Anton Stepanishchev, "Vitebskiye vesti".