The Yauza () is a river in Moscow and Mytishchi, Russia, a left and largest tributary of the Moskva in the Russian capital. It originates in the Losiny Ostrov National Park northeast of Moscow, flows through Mytishchi, enters Moscow in the Medvedkovo District and flows through the city in an irregular, meandering, generally north-south direction. The Yauza joins the Moskva River in Tagansky District just west of Tagansky Hill, now marked by the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building. Valleys of the Yauza, from the MKAD beltway in the north to the Moscow-Yaroslavl railway west of Sokolniki Park, are protected as natural reserves.Yauza in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
The Yauza has been mentioned in Russian chronicles since 1156; the exact origin of the name is unknown. Moscow crossed its former natural eastern boundary (marked by the Yauza) in the beginning of the 16th century. The banks of the Yauza within the Garden Ring were densely urbanized by the middle of the 17th century; upstream valleys housed suburban residences of the House of Romanov, from Mikhail to Catherine II.Catherine did commission a palace in Lefortovo, but has not ever been there actually. Settlements along the Yauza (German Quarter, Lefortovo, Preobrazhenskoye) played a significant role in the history of Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries made the Yauza "the biggest gutter for waste in Moscow".Colton, p. 546 In the 2000s the ecology improved, with the closing or conversion of old factories and cleanup efforts by the city government. In 2007 the Yauza waters were reclassified from "dirty" to "polluted" status, but in 2008 the trend reversed and pollution in the Yauza exceeded its 2006 levels. As of 2008, Yauza water passing the Moscow city boundary is rated as "polluted", and reaches a "very dirty" level at its inlet.State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.79 Untreated surface runoff in the Central Administrative District remains the main source of pollution.
Geology
The Yauza is arguably one of the most ancient European rivers. A proto-Yauza River first appeared in Permian-Triassic period, at which time it flowed to the east of its present riverbed, down today's Izmailovo Gully. After being periodically submerged during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the region finally became land in the Tertiary period. Due to minor elevation changes, the Yauza diverted into its present course, with its former riverbed taken over by the present-day Serebryanka, which forms part of Yauza basin and flows in the westward direction opposite to the original Yauza.Yu.Nasimovich
Geography
The Yauza is long, and has a drainage basin of .«Река ЯУЗА», Russian State Water Registry It consists of three parts: The Upper Yauza flows from the marshes of Losiny Ostrov National Park (). The lakes surrounding the river () were formed in the 20th century on abandoned peat-mining sites.Surikova 2000 A 1995 study identified twelve beaver colonies in the upper Yauza basin; large portions became a typical "beaver landscape". After the river enters the city of Mytishchi, it flows through a chain of narrow valleys into Sokolniki Park deep inside Moscow.() The Yauza Valleys, zoned specially protected natural territories, are managed by city authorities as public parks. Past Sokolniki, the Yauza enters a heavily industrialized area; below Glebovsky Bridge () it flows in a man-made channel shaped by granite embankments, with heavy traffic on both sides.
The Yauza collects waters from many tributaries, most of them confined to underground sewers (e.g. Rachka, Rybenka and Khapilovka). The few that remain on the surface, at least partially, are (north to south):Names, lengths and areas as in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997. Western (right bank) tributaries Eastern (left bank) tributaries Sukromka () Chermyanka (12 km, ) Likhoborka (16 km, ) Kamenka (7 km, ) Putyaev and Oleny brooks in Sokolniki Park Ichka (12 km, ) Budayka (4.4 km, ) Khapilovka (all confined to sewer, ) with tributaries Serebryanka (12 km) and Sosenka (9 km) running naturally through Izmaylovsky Park. This is the largest subsystem of the Yausa basin, with its own drainage basin of 75 square kilometers.
The flow of the Yauza is regulated (particularly in winter) and reinforced with water from the Volga that reaches the city through the Moscow Canal.Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy pp. 534. The first occurrence of Yauza on this page refers to the subject of this article; Yauza Reservoir mentioned further on the same page is based on a different river also called Yauza (tributary of Gzhat River). 80 million cubic metersState of environment in Moscow in 2000–2001, p. 50. For comparison, Moskva River receives 600 million cubic meters. of Volga water is sourced each year from the Khimki Reservoir in northwest Moscow and fed through underground pipes and an open channel to Golovinsky Ponds and the Likhoborka River (a tributary of the Yauza). The water level in the lower Yauza is regulated by the Pererva Dam () on the Moskva River, and by the locks () on the Yauza itself east of Kursky Rail Terminal. Raised water levels in the downtown portion of the Yauza basin led to long-term flooding and death of trees deep inside Losiny Ostrov.IUCN 1995, p. 46
Within the city of Moscow the Yauza is spanned by 21 road bridges, five railroad bridges, one dedicated tram bridge, two Moscow Metro bridges, numerous pedestrian bridges and the historical Rostokino Aqueduct. Spring floods due to low clearance under old bridges were common, with four in the 1950s alone (1951, 1952, 1955 and 1957); they were practically eliminated when these bridges were rebuilt to modern standards.Navodneniya () in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997 The most recent flash flood on the Yauza occurred August 14, 2003, following a record-setting rainfall. The Yauza and its valleys are not particularly prone to the landslides and erosion common in the western and southern districts of Moscow. There were two minor landslides on the Yauza in 2008, compared with 40 on the Chertanovka River and 33 on the Gorodnya River.State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.186
There is no commercial or recreational shipping, although the river is accessible to small motor boats as far as Preobrazhenskaya Square ().
History
Prehistory to the Time of Troubles
The first mention of the Yauza (as Auza) in Russian chronicles is directly connected to the foundation of Moscow: according to the chronicles, in 1156 Yury Dolgoruky "founded Moscow at the estuary of Neglinnaya above the Yauza" on the site owned by Stepan Kuchka and known through another chronicle since 1147. There is no generally accepted etymology for Yauza or Auza. Similar toponyms (Auzas, Auzes, Auzi) exist in modern Latvia; the Baltic origins of Yauza are generally accepted but have not been proven.Paschalov 2008
Medieval Moscow grew from its Kremlin primarily in a northeasterly direction, towards the Yauza.Colton, p. 14 St. Andronik Monastery on the Yauza (established in 1357) formed the eastern defence arc, together with the Pokrovsky and Novospassky monasteries. The Yauza was used as a commercial waterway from Moscow to Vladimir until the 16th century; boats that reached the upper Yauza were dragged over land to the Klyazma River. After the fire of 1494, Ivan III of Russia set up his country residence on the western bank of the Yauza in VorontsovoPamyatniki Moskvy. Bely Gorod, p. 309 (). During the same period potters, blacksmiths and other craftsmen deemed a fire hazard were evicted from Moscow proper onto the opposite, eastern bank of the Yauza (the present-day area of Taganka Square),Pamyatniki Moskvy. Zemlyanoy Gorod, pp. 291, 295 thus beginning the industrialization of the river.
17th and 18th centuries
Slobodas (settlements) of metalworkers' guilds expanded, and in the 17th century Taganka became the most densely populated, remote area of the city of Moscow. The lower Yauza was used by numerous watermills and public baths tending to the growing population.
Suburban valleys of the Yauza also flourished under the early Romanovs. Tsar Mikhail of Russia (reigned 1613–1645) established his country palace in Rubtsovo () and his former rival Prince Dmitry Pozharsky (1577–1642) lived further out, in Medvedkovo on the Yauza (). Alexis I of Russia (reigned 1645–1676) established a chain of country residencies in Preobrazhenskoye and Alekseevskoye () on the Yauza, and Izmaylovo Estate on its Serebryanka tributary. In 1653 Alexis yielded to the pressure of Orthodox clergy and expelled Catholics and Protestants from Moscow; they resettled in the German Quarter on the eastern bank of the Yauza, isolated from the city by the marshes around the Kokuy and Chechora streams.
Tsar Peter I (reigned 1682–1725) established his own headquarters in Preobrazhenskoye, and was a regular guest in the German Quarter. He neglected his father's palaces, instead concentrating on the military (Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment, established 1687) and supporting the industries spreading on both banks of the river. Bartolomeo Rastrelli erected Annenhof, a summer residence for empress Anna of Russia, in Lefortovo in 1731. Annenhof burnt down in 1746 and was eventually replaced by Catherine's Palace (), designed by Giacomo Quarenghi; the palace now houses a military academy,Brooke, p. 218 and the former palace gardens have become a public park. Elizabeth of Russia built her country palace in Rubtsovo, on the site of Mikhail's former residence (), from 1735 to 1743.
The Old Believers, a persecuted religious minority, were allowed to practice their beliefs in two isolated communities east of the Yauza (Rogozhskoye Cemetery and Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery)Brooke, p. 198 beginning in the 1770s. Edinoverie, a moderate branch of Old Believers in communion with the official Orthodox Church, built a large church complex on a high eastern bank of Yauza in Lefortovo ().
In 1779 Catherine II authorized the construction of Moscow's first water-supply network. Water from underground aquifers in the upper Yauza basin flowed to downtown Moscow through underground pipes, surface canals and an aqueduct which crossed the Yauza valley in Rostokino. After numerous delays and setbacks, the system was commissioned in 1804 and operated into the 20th century; the city of Mytishchi continues to use Yauza aquifers.Mytishchinsky vodoprovod () in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
Industrialization
State-run factories established by Peter I on the Yauza provided the seed for a chain of private factories; by the end of the 18th century significant industrial clusters emerged in Lefortovo and former German Quarter (then practically devoid of Western-European influence). In 1846, pollution from these mills prompted Moscow governor Aleksey Shcherbatov to survey the banks of the Yauza and enforce administrative action against the offenders.Shcherbatov, Aleksey Grigoryevich () in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
Industrialization of the Yauza outside of the Garden Ring limits increased with the advent of railroads; within the Ring, the banks of the Yauza were the only heavily industrialized area.Colton, p. 46 A major hub of three railway stations emerged north from the Yauza in the third quarter of the 19th century. The dense rail network helped establish the eastern perimeter of Moscow (Basmanny, Lefortovo, Rogozhskoye and Sokolniki) as "the fastest growing and the most variegated area, holding dozens of textile and garment factories but also machinery enterprises and Moscow's one steel mill."Colton, p. 47