The Syas () is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Lyubytinsky District Lyubytinsky District (russian: Любытинский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #559-OZ and municipalLaw #357-OZ district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northeast of the oblast and borde ...

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including ...

and Tikhvinsky and

Volkhovsky District Volkhovsky District (russian: Во́лховский райо́н) is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #56-oz district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central eastern part of the ob ...

s of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Syas flows from the

Valdai Hills The Valdai Hills (russian: Валда́йская возвы́шенность, Valdáyskaya vozvýshennost'), sometimes referred to as just Valdai (russian: Валда́й, Valdáy), are an upland region in the north-west of central European Ru ...

north into

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...

. The town of

Syasstroy Syasstroy (russian: Сясьстро́й) is a town in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located near the mouth of the Syas River, at its confluence with the Valgonka, close to Lake Ladoga, east of St. Petersburg. Populat ...

is located at its mouth. It is long, and the area of its basin . The largest tributary of the Syas is the

Tikhvinka The Tikhvinka () is a river in Boksitogorsky and Tikhvinsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, a right and the biggest tributary of the Syas. The town of Tikhvin is located on its banks. It is long, and the area of its basin . The main trib ...

(right). The source of the Syas is in the Valday Hills north of the settlement of

Nebolchi Nebolchi (russian: Неболчи) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Lyubytinsky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it serves as the administrative center of Nebolchskoye Urban Settlement, one of the two urban settlement ...

. The river flows north and enters Leningrad Oblast. It crosses the

Tikhvin Ridge Tikhvin (russian: Ти́хвин; Veps: ) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin ...

from the south to the north. Further north, it accepts the Tikhvinka from the right and turns west. There it accepts the Lunenka from the left, turns northwest and crosses into Volkhovsky District. The mouth of the Syas is downstream from the city of Syasstroy. The river basin of the Syas comprises parts of Volkhovsky, Tikhvinsky, and

Boksitogorsky District Boksitogorsky District (russian: Бокситого́рский райо́н) is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #78-oz district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the ob ...

s of Leningrad Oblast and Lyubytinsky District of Novgorod Oblast. In the west and the south, it is separated from the river basin of the

Volkhov Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov east of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as ''Zvanka ...

, in the north it is separated from the river basin of the

Svir The Svir (, Veps: , Karelian/Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows westwards from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest ...

, and in the east it is separated from the river basin of the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

. The Syas is connected with the Volga through the Tikhvinka, the

Tikhvin Water System Tikhvin (russian: Ти́хвин; Veps: ) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin i ...

, and the

Chagodoshcha The Chagodoshcha (russian: Чагодоща, also known as Chagoda, russian: Чагода) is a river in Boksitogorsky District of Leningrad Oblast and in Chagodoshchensky, Babayevsky, and Ustyuzhensky Districts of Vologda Oblast in Russia. It ...

and the

Mologa Mologa (russian: Моло́га) was a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, formerly situated at the confluence of the rivers Mologa and Volga, but now submerged under the waters of the Rybinsk Reservoir. Mologa existed at least since the 12th cen ...

. The Syas freezes up in November (sometimes in December or even January) and stays under the ice until April. During the late

Vendel Age In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period ( sv, Vendeltiden; 540–790 AD) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish church, Uppland. This is a period wit ...

and the early

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

, the Syas was popular as an alternative route to the

for penetrating from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

through

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

s to the Volga. A fortress of

Alaborg Álaborg or Áluborg is the name of a Varangian fort mentioned in the Norse sagas about Halfdan Eysteinsson and Hrolf Ganger. The first saga indicates that it was possible to sail from Aldeigjuborg (Ladoga) to Alaborg northward by sea, but a mo ...

was built by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

to guard the approaches to the Syas rapids. The route had declined by the 10th century.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=152643, script-title=ru:Река Сясь, publisher=State Water Register of Russia, language=Russian, accessdate=20 January 2012 Rivers of Leningrad Oblast Rivers of Novgorod Oblast