Krzyżacki przekop w rejonie rzek Wel i Wkra pod Lidzbarkiem. Konfrontacja dawnej i nowej historiografii z badaniami terenowymi

Every so often we witness a return of a hitherto unresolved topic about the hydraulic engineering works conducted by the Teutonic Knights in the vicinity of Lidzbark. There are several opinions concerning the location of and reasons for their endeavor. There is original documentation in Latin from the mid-14th century with a reference to the approximate location of the works. Subsequent information on this subject appeared at the end of the 19th century. On the basis of contemporary geological studies, the author tries to refute the thesis that the Teutonic Knights dug a trench from Cibórz to Lidzbark, thus connecting two rivers called Wel and Wkra. The presumed 14th-century construction is a watercourse from the Wel River in Bełk (below Cibórz) to Turza Mała and the Płośniczanka River. The Wel river was called Vcra (1260); Wykara (1303), Welle (1600), or Wkra (1945), while on the Henneberger map from 1600, the Płośniczanka river was called Wellefluss, and the changes in its course are most visible in the vicinity of the Koty village. Presumably there was a translation error: the Teutonic Knights made a ditch in the vicinity of Cibórz and released water to Lidzbark, which was interpreted as: ‘The Teutonic Knights made a ditch from Cibórz to Lidzbark’. Contemporary geological studies and maps exclude the possibility of connecting the Wel and Wkra rivers in the Middle Ages, while in the Holocene, there was a natural connection, the trace of which is the old riverbed called Martwica. The article describes the present physical state of the area in the Lubawa region.