The Sit () is a tributary of the Rybinsk Reservoir (nominally, of the Mologa, into which the Sit used to flow before the reservoir was filled).Great Soviet Encyclopaedia The river flows for through Sonkovsky District of Tver Oblast and Nekouzsky and Breytovsky Districts of Yaroslavl Oblasts, Russia, before entering the Rybinsk Reservoir near the large village of Breitovo. Its average width varies from . The river mouth is about wide. The drainage basin occupies some . The river is long.
Description The source of the Sit is in the north of Sonkovsky District, close to the village of Saburovo. The river flows northeast, enters Yaroslavl Oblast, and turns south. Near the selo (village) of Voznesenskoye, it turns east and eventually north. The mouth of the Sit is in the selo of Breytovo.
The drainage basin of the Sit includes the eastern part of Krasnokholmsky District of Tver Oblast, the eastern part of Sonkovsky District, the western part of Nekouzsky District, and some areas in Breytovsky District. The district centers Sonkovo and Breytovo lie in the drainage basin of the Sit.
History The name of the river is associated with the Battle of the Sit River on 4 March 1238. A Mongol army led by Burundai confronted Yuri II of Vladimir on the river, while another army besieged the town of Torzhok, which belonged to Novgorod. The residents of Torzhok surrendered on 5 March, the day after the battle on the river, although the Mongol army failed to follow up on its success by marching to Novgorod. The Mongols left Russia in the summer but returned the following year to continue their campaign.
In the Middle Ages, the valley of the Sit belonged to a branch of the princely house of Yaroslavl. The appanage princes of joined the service of the grand princes of Muscovy in the 15th century. The family survived into the 17th century and was closely related by blood to the Romanovs.Russian Biographical Dictionary
In the early 20th century, the valley of the Sit River was home to the , an ethnic group of short fair-haired people speaking a northern dialect of the Russian language. It is thought that they had a mixture of Lithuanian or some other Baltic ancestry.Институт этнологии и антропологии РАН: Этнографические группы русского народа
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