Zbruch River

Zbruch River (Ukrainian: Збруч, Polish: Zbrucz) is a river in Western Ukraine, a left tributary of the Dniester.

It flows within the Podolia Upland starting from the Avratinian Upland. Zbruch is the namesake of the Zbruch idol, a sculpture of a Slavic deity (9th century) in the form of a column with a head with four faces, discovered in 1848 by the river. The idol is 2.67 m (8.8 ft) in height. From 1851 the statue is kept in the Kraków Archeological Museum, however its copies are available in the Moscow Historical Museum, the Ternopil Regional Museum, and the Pochaiv Museum of Atheism. Scientist consider that the idol an interpretation of the ancient Slavic of god Sviatovit sacked upon the baptizing of the local population.

Upon the river situated couple of small Hydro Electric Stations (Bodnariv's and Martynkiv's), while along the river are some 140 ponds. The river serves a natural border between Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions. As it was mentioned above the river flows through the Podolia Upland sneaking past the Podolian hills also known as Medobory for their honey-bearing flora (literally: Med - honey and Bory - gather). Medobory stretch from the northeastern part of the Lviv Region to the northern borders of the Republic of Moldova. Zbruch, at its mouth, has a width of some 18 m (59 ft). The source of the river lays in a relative proximity to such other rivers as Horyn and Sluch and used to serve as an alternative route for the tradeway "From the Varangians to Greeks". Presumably the earliest name for the river was "Boruch".

Between 1772 and 1793 the river was a border between Poland and Austria, whereas between 1793 and 1807, and between 1815 and 1918 the river was a border between the Austrian Galicia on one side and Imperial Russia on the other. During that time the river was also called Pidhirtsi. Following the Polish-Ukrainian Alliance of 1920 it was intended as the border between Poland and Ukraine. After the Treaty of Riga the Polish-Soviet border was established in the area, running along the river.

It is 247 km in length and its drainage basin is 3,330 km².

Sites along the river

• Medobory Nature Preserve (near towns of Husyatyn and Hrymailiv)
• National Nature Park "Podilski Tovtry"
• Monochynsk Zakaznik
• Kudryntsi Castle
• Chornokozyntsi Castle
• crossing between the towns of Pidvolochysk and Volochysk, forming historically a major border checkpoint between the Austrian crown and the Russian Empire
• town of Husiatyn, a site of Zbruch idol discovery
• Skala-Podilska Castle and park (a state architectural monument)

Coordinates: 49°32′56″N 26°10′37″E / 49.549°N 26.177°E / 49.549; 26.177