Neva River, the

Subject / Topography/Reservoirs and waterways
NEVA, river in Leningrad Oblast and SPb. It was formed c. 3000 years ago due to a water breakthrough from Lake Ladoga to the Baltic Sea along the old valleys of the Mga and Tosna rivers. The toponym “Neva” is borrowed from the Baltic Finnish languages, meaning a swampy waterlogged place. Length: 74 km. Basin area: 281,000 sq. km. It flows out of the Petrokrepost Bay (Schlusselburg Bay) of Lake Ladoga, and it flows into the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. It flows down the Neva Lowland, a valley 30-50 km wide. The predominant depth is 8-11 m; the max. depth (24 m) is at the right bank of N., opposite Arsenalnaya St. in SPb., the min. depth (4-4.5 m), in the Ivanovsky Rapids. Max width: abt. 1200 m (estuary), min. width: 210 m (at the Ivanovsky Rapids, opposite Svyatki Point), av. depth: 400-700 m. By its water supply (annual water discharge: 77 cu. km) it is fourth among Europe’s rivers (after the Volga, Kama, and Pechora.) N. has three islands within Leningrad Oblast: Oreshek at the river head, Fabrichny near Schlusselburg Town, and Glavryba near the Ivanovsky Rapids. The largest islands are within the SPb city line in the N. estuary. It has 26 tributaries, among them the Mga, Tosna, Izhora, Okhta. N. has no floodplain. It is free of spring tides or high water, but floods are regular in the lower reach (within the SPb city line.) N. is inhabited by salmon, vendace, perch, roach, ruff; smelt (principal commercial fish) comes from the Gulf of Finland in spring. N. is a most important shipping route. In the 10th – 11th centuries, it was a part of the “Trade road from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Currently, a part of the Volgo-Baltic and White Sea-Baltic Waterways. On the N. shores are the cities of Schlusselburg, Kirovsk, Otradnoye, and towns of Dubrovka, Pavlovo, Im. Sverdlova. In Leningrad Oblast Ladozhsky motor bridge was built across N. at Maryino village on the Kola Route, and Kuzminsky railway bridge was built near Pavlovo Town. In 1323, the fortress Oreshek was erected on an island in the N. estuary (see Schlusselburg Fortress.) In 1703, SPb was founded in the N. estuary. In way of the Crooked Bend, the Nevsky forest park is located. During WWII (1941-44), N. from its head to Kolpino became a frontline; to memorize this, several monuments and memory signs are installed on its banks. Among them are the museum complexes “Nevsky Spot”, “Breach of the Leningrad Siege”, memorials “The Hill of Glory”, “Nevsky Spot”, “Ivanovsky Spot”, “Nevsky Threshold”, “The Breach”. The toponym “Neva” bears a symbolic meaning for the region, and can be found in the names of enterprises, cultural institutions etc. (e.g. JSC Bodegas-Valdepablo-Neva, JSC " Nevskaya Poultry Farm”; newspaper "Nevskaya Zarya".) Chistyakov, Anton Yuryevich
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vsevolozhsk District/Dubrovka Urban Settlement
Topographical landmarks/Gulf of Finland, the
Topographical landmarks/Izhora River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Kirovsk Town
Topographical landmarks/Ladoga Lake
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Maryino Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Maryino Village
Topographical landmarks/Mga River, the
Topographical landmarks/Neva River, the
Topographical landmarks/Okhta River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Otradnoye Town
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Pavlovo Urban Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Shlisselburg Town
Topographical landmarks/Tosna River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vsevolozhsk District/Urban Settlement named after Sverdlov
Нежиховский Р. А. Река Нева. 3-е изд. Л., 1973
Нежиховский Р. А. Река Нева и Невская губа. Л., 1981
Евгеньев Г. По рекам и озерам Ленинградской области. Л.: Лениздат, 1962.
Нежиховский Р.А. Вопросы гидрологии реки Невы и Невской губы. Л., 1988
Нева Путеводитель /сост. В.Я.Рузов. Речиздат, 1940
"Break-through", memorial
"Ivanovo Small Area", memorial
"Nevskaya Zarya" ("Neva Dawn"), a newspaper
"Nevsky Rapids", monument
"Nevsky", a wooded park
Shlisselburg Fortress, the
"The Break of the Leningrad Siege", a museum-reser
"The Nevsky Patch", a museum