- Vistula Spit
The Vistula Spit ( _pl. Mierzeja Wiślana; _ru. Балтийская коса; _de. Frische Nehrung) is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which cuts the
Vistula Lagoon off fromGdańsk Bay ("Danziger Bucht") in theBaltic Sea . The border betweenPoland andKaliningrad Oblast , an exclave ofRussia , runs across it, splitting it politically in halves. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit.History
Until the 13th century, the spit had navigable straits in the middle, which allowed the city of
Elbląg (Elbing), part of themonastic State of the Teutonic Knights , direct access to theBaltic Sea . The natural closing of the straits in the late 13th century reduced Elbing's status as an important tradingseaport . Thus, and by theTeutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Polish Pomerania in 1308, the importance ofGdańsk (Danzig) grew.Nowadays, Poland discusses the project of digging a channel through its part of the spit, in order to regain direct access to the Baltic, rather than by the only natural, yet Russian-controlled port at
Baltiysk (Pillau /Piława).External links
* [http://www.mierzeja.de/ Vistula Spit] pl icon de icon
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