The Gauja River (, ) is a river in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 93.5 km (approximately one-fifth) are in Gauja National Park. In this part, the Gauja River flows through the Gauja Valley, which is between 1 and 2.5 km wide, and the maximum depth near

Sigulda Sigulda (; ; Polish Zygwold) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley. Because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep r ...

is 85 m. Thus, the Gauja is the longest river of Latvia if only the parts of the river in the country's territory are counted. The Daugava has only 367 km in Latvia, whereas the entire length of the river is over 1,000 km. The sandstone rocks on the banks of the Gauja and its adjoining rivers started forming 370 to 300 million years ago, during the

Devonian period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding C ...

History

Before the 13th century, the Gauja River used to serve as a trade route and border river between the Livonian and Latgalian lands. In some territories, they used to live mixed together. When Livonian languages were still present along the Gauja River and the sea, it used to be called ''Koivo'' (the

Birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

River; Livonian ''keùv'' or

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

''kõiv''). In Latvian, the name of the Gauja River used to mean 'a great amount', 'a crowd', and was therefore called the 'big river'. The Livonians suffered greatly during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

and suffered a plague in the 18th century. That was the period when the remaining Livonians assimilated with the

Latvians Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language ...

Today

The Gauja River tends to change its bed rapidly, and has gained the reputation of being deceitful. The bed of the river is made of unconsolidated sand and gravel deposits that move along with the current. In some places, the bed is pebbly, forming boulder rapids: Kazu, Raiskuma, Rakšu, and Ķūķu. The bottom of the river in Gauja National Park is 60 to 120 meters wide with a rapidly changing depth from 0.3 m to 7 m. The decline is 0.5 m/km. The speed of flow during low water is 0.2 to 0.4 m/s, and during the spring water period 2 to 3 m/s. Due to the fluctuations in water level, current speed, and special flow features, the Gauja River may be characterized as a rather non-homogeneous watercourse. Usually the Gauja River freezes over in mid-December, and the ice starts moving in late March. During warm winters, the river does not freeze over. Much underground water flows into the Gauja River. It therefore has a lower water temperature than other large rivers in Latvia.

References

External links

{{Authority control Rivers of Estonia Rivers of Latvia International rivers of Europe Gulf of Riga Drainage basins of the Baltic Sea Estonia–Latvia border Border rivers