Length 4 km | ||
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The Nyamiha (Belarusian: Няміга, [nʲaˈmʲiɣa]; Russian: Немига, Nemiga, [nʲɪˈmʲiɡə]) is a river in Minsk. Today it is contained within a fabricated culvert.
The first mention of the river in historical chronicles is connected with a disastrous Battle on the river Nemiga, which took place here in 1067, when the forces of the prince of Kievan Rus' defeated the forces of Polatsk princedom. The medieval epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign refers to the "bloody river banks of Nyamiha."
Lines from the famous epic detail the gruesome battle:
On the Nemiga the spread sheaves are heads, the flails that threshare of steel, lives are laid out on the threshing floor,
souls are winnowed from bodies. Nemiga’s gory banks are not sowed goodly-sown with the bones of Russia’s sons.
For a long time it was the second largest river flowing through Minsk, until it was adapted for its urban location by containment within a network of pipes. One part of the river was put into a pipe in 1926, and the rest in 1955. Today the river is a minor feature of the city environment, and the name Nyamiha more commonly refers to a nearby street.
Nyamiha (or Nemiga) Street is part of a shopping district famous for its amber craftwork. The Nyamiha metro station on the street was the site a of tragedy on May 30, 1999.
Another incident on Nyamiha Street occurred on July 25, 2004, when a two-hour downpour in Minsk caused the storm sewers to overflow. Nyamiha Street and environs were flooded.