Understanding historical landscapes of the Vistula Lagoon
through aerial photography

Jerzy Miałdun, Izabela Mirkowska

  
The Vistula Delta were created as the result of river sediments accumulating in a former gulf. The process of covering began about 6,000 years ago and it is still going on. The natural environment of the Vistula River Delta used to be composed of numerous river branches, lagoons, swamps, sandbanks and shallows. Human has been present in this area for many ages and has been acquiring land, e.g. for cultivation, since medieval times, and has gradually transformed it into an artificial environment. This environment is formed of polders, flood lands, hydro-technical buildings, etc. in a plain area of about 2500 km2.