The Pisa (; german: Pissek) 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 ...

in north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

with a length of 82 km and a basin area of 4,510 km².Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017
Statistics Poland, p. 85-86 It belongs to the

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lakeland ( pl, Pojezierze Mazurskie; german: Masurische Seenplatte) is a lake district in northeastern Poland within the geographical region of Masuria, in the past inhabited by Masurians who spoke the Masu ...

of the

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship or Warmia-Masuria Province or Warmia-Mazury Province (in pl, Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie, is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an ar ...

. The Pisa river flows from

Lake Roś Lake Roś ( Polish: ''Jezioro Roś'', German: ''Roschsee'') is a lake in the Masurian Lake District of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland. This S-shaped glacial lake has an area of 18.9 km2 and a depth of 31.8 metres. The Swięce ...

near the town of

Pisz Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', german: Johannisburg) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junct ...

, and is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Narew The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vi ...

, connecting the Lakeland region with the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

. The

Pisz Forest Puszcza Piska Forest or the Pisz Forest (german: Johannisburger Heide) is the largest forest complex of the Masuria region in northern Poland, adjacent to the Masurian Landscape Park, and the Masurian Lowlands. Formerly known as the Jańsborska ...

borders the river on its west bank. The name Pisa comes from the ancient Prussian language word "pisa", meaning "swamp." The name dates back to the

Galindae Galindians were two distinct, and now extinct, tribes of the Balts. Most commonly, Galindians refers to the Western Galindians who lived in the southeast part of Prussia. Less commonly, it is used for a tribe that lived in the area of what is tod ...

tribe who lived in the area before the arrival of the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

, who referred to the Pisa as the ''Galinde''. In November 1982 the Polish Centre for Research and Control of the Environment (Ośrodek Badań i Kontroli Środowiska) in

Łomża Łomża (), in English known as Lomza, is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship ...

included Pisa in the first class category for purity of its water. Pisa is a picturesque lowland river with its most scenic stretches around its upper and lower reaches. In the middle part, the river flows through boggy meadows. Along its entire length Pisa is navigable. Considerably deep (1–1.8 m), it has the shallowest depth at its mouth, at the

river. Pisa is strongly meandering with the average descent of 32 cm per kilometer. Canoeing down the river from

Nowogród Nowogród is a small town in northeastern Poland located about away from the city of Łomża, in Łomża County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, with 1,998 inhabitants (2004). It is centered on the area known as Skansen Kurpiowski which is an ope ...

takes about 4–5 days.

Bibliography

* W. Brenda, D. Serafin, ''Piskie ścieżki Rowerowe Informator Turystyczny'',

Town Centre, pp. 34–38 Rivers of Poland Rivers of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship {{Poland-river-stub