Dnieper rapids

The Dnieper rapids (Ukrainian: Дніпрові пороги, romanized: Dniprovi porohy) also known as cataracts of the Dnieper were the historical rapids on the Dnieper river in Ukraine, caused by outcrops of granites, gneisses and other types of bedrock of the Ukrainian Shield.

The rapids began below the present-day city of Dnipro (formerly Kodak Fortress, Yekaterinoslav), where the river turns to the south, and dropped 50 meters in 66 kilometers, ending before the present-day city of Zaporizhzhia (whose name literally means "beyond the rapids").

The Dnieper rapids were part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle.

On the Dnieper the travelers had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

The rapids was mentioned in Emperor Constantine VII's work De Administrando Imperio[1] and in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.