16,000 years ago Sven the Continental Glacier left the area of today’s Poznań for good. Nature, however, abhors vacuum. An era of continuators ensued. These also valued beauty and strength, they were patient and persistent. Well, perhaps not all of them…
Following the leaving Continental Glacier, came the first rivers. Meet Team Warta River.
The Warta River – team captain
She is an experienced player. Won a bronze medal for being the longest river in Poland. She comes from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland but most of her course is in the Wielkopolska Region. She ends her journey in the Oder. She flows through Poznań through a deep valley towards the north. She is the biggest star in the team – even the Polish anthem mentions her! The other players centre around her.
The Cybina River – the right tributary
Her job is to support the Warta River on the eastern side. She flows through a deep valley. On her way she creates several lakes, both natural (Jezioro Swarzędzkie) and artificial (Jezioro Malta). Before she flows into the Warta River, she flows on the eastern side of Cathedral Island.
The Główna River – the right winger
She begins her journey in one of the lakes – Jezioro Lednickie. She is an expert in landscape parks. Although she is short, she flows through as many as three of them.
The Bogdanka and Wierzbak Rivers – the left wings
They protect the western side of the pitch. Originally, they had no contact with each other because each of them flowed through their own valley. Today, they are inseparable and so tangled that it is hard to split them.
Long time ago the Bogdanka River was a girl from the city centre. She flowed right through the middle of today’s city. Then she started an affair with a city moat, which, unfortunately, ended badly for her. The Wierzbak River, on the other hand, was a boy from the suburbs. He met with the Bogdanka River when she decided to stay away from the city centre. Today they join their streams in the vicinity of Sołacki Park. For a while, they use Wierzbak’s old valley, and reach the Warta River in secret through a culvert hidden under the streets of the city.
Junikowski Stream – the left midfield
He is almost one hundred percent a Poznań inhabitant. His river head is near Poznań–Ławica Airport. He mostly flows through the city – only at the end of his course does he travel to Luboń.
In the past his valley abounded in large amounts of clay, which was used for making bricks. What was left after its extraction were ponds – today’s Szachty. Junikowski Stream weaves between them.
Substitutes: the Górczynka River, the Różany Potok River, the Obrzyca River, the Kopel River