Augustów Canal

The Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built by the Congress Kingdom of Poland in 19th century in the Augustów Voivodeship (present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and Grodno Oblast of western Belarus). From the time it was first built, the canal was described by experts as a technological marvel, with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first summit level canal in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, Vistula River through the Biebrza River – a tributary of the Narew River, and the Neman River through its tributary – the Czarna Hańcza River, and it provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal, Daugava River, Berezina Canal and Dnieper River. It uses a post-glacial channel depression, forming the chain of Augustów lakes, and the river valleys of the Biebrza, the Netta, the Czarna Hańcza and the Neman, which made it possible to perfectly integrate the Canal with the surrounding elements of the natural environment. The reasons behind the construction of the Augustów Canal were both political and economic. In 1821, Prussia introduced repressively high customs duties for the transit of Russian Empire goods through its territory, which hindered access of traders to the Baltic seaports through the Vistula River. In 1822, Congress Poland was granted measures of commercial au