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Vistula Spit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vistula Spit (Polish: Mierzeja Wiślana; Russian: Балтийская коса; German: Frische Nehrung) is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which cuts the Vistula Lagoon off from Gdańsk Bay (Danziger Bucht). The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, runs across it, splitting it politically in halves.
Until the 13th century, the spit had navigable straits in the middle, which allowed the city of Elbing (Elbląg), part of the monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, direct access to the Baltic Sea. The natural closing of the straits in the late 13th century reduced Elbing's status as an important trading seaport. Thus, and by the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Polish Pomerania in 1308, the importance of Danzig (Gdańsk) 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).
- Vistula Spit (Polish) (German)
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