Yauza River

The Yauza is a river in Moscow and Mytishchi, Russia, a tributary of the Moskva River. 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 tower. 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 is arguably one of the most ancient European rivers. Pre-Yauza first appeared in Permian-Triassic period, at which time it was flowing to the east of its present riverbed, down what is now Izmailovo Gully. After being periodically submerged during Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the region finally became land in Tertiary period. Due to minor elevation changes, Yauza changed its course to its present condition, while its former riverbed taken by present-day Serebryanka river, which is part of Yauza basin and flows in the westward direction opposite to original Yauza.