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 ...

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, includin ...

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 o ...

s of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The Syas flows from the Valdai Hills 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. Populati ...

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 District, 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 ...

(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 settlemen ...

. 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 i ...

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 Districts 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 ''Zvan ...

, 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 large ...

, 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 longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

. The Syas is connected with the Volga through the Tikhvinka, the Tikhvin Water System, 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. The Syas freezes up in November (sometimes in December or even January) and stays under the ice until April. During the late Vendel Age 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 Germ ...

, 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