Main source Valdai Hills Discharge 53 m³/s Mouth Lake Ladoga | Length 260 km Source Valdai Hills Country Russia | |
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River mouth Lake Ladoga
5 metres (16 ft) Basin size 7,330 square kilometres (2,830 sq mi) | ||
The Syas River (Russian: Сясь) is a river in Lyubytinsky District of Novgorod Oblast and Tikhvinsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The Syas River flows from Valdai Hills north into Lake Ladoga. A town of Syasstroy is located at its mouth. It is 260 kilometres (160 mi) long, and the area of its basin 7,330 square kilometres (2,830 sq mi). The largest tributary of the Syas is the Tikhvinka River (right).
Map of r. Syas', Russia
The source of the Syas is in the Valday Hills north of the settlement of Nebolchi. The river flows north and enters Leningrad Oblast. It crosses the Tikhvin Ridge 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, in the north it is separated from the river basin of the Svir, and in the east it is separated from the river basin of the Volga. The Syas is connected with the Volga through the Tikhvinka River, the Tikhvin Water System, and the Chagodoshcha 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 Syas River was popular as an alternative route to the Volkhov for penetrating from the Baltic Sea through portages to the Volga River. A fortress of Alaborg was built by the Vikings to guard the approaches to the Syas rapids. The route had declined by the 10th century.