The Lovat (, ; ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in Vitebsk Oblast of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, Usvyatsky, Velikoluksky, and

Loknyansky District Loknyansky District () is an administrativeLaw #833-oz and municipalLaw #420-oz district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the east of the oblast and borders with Kholmsky District of Novgorod Oblast in the ...

s, as well as of the city of

Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...

, of

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

and Kholmsky, Poddorsky, Starorussky, and Parfinsky Districts of

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located in the oblast. The historic m ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The source of the Lovat is Lake Lovatets in northeastern Belarus, and the Lovat is a tributary of

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen (, ) is a large lake in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Veliky Novgorod, which is a major trade center of the ro ...

. Its main tributaries are the Loknya (left), the Kunya (right), the

Polist The Polist () is a river in Bezhanitsky District of Pskov Oblast and in Poddorsky and Starorussky Districts, as well as in the town of Staraya Russa of Novgorod Oblast of Russia. It is technically a tributary of the Lovat though it forms a commo ...

(left), the Redya (left), and the Robya (right). The towns of

and Kholm, as well as the urban-type settlement of Parfino, are located on the banks of the Lovat. From the source, the Lovat flows in the southeastern direction along the border between Russia and Belarus, it turns north and enters Pskov Oblast of Russia, crossing the border as Lake Sesito. In this area, the Lowat flows through the lake district, passing, in particular,

Lake Vorokhobskoye A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

. Downstrean of Velikiye Luki, in the selo of

Podberezye Podberezye () is the name of several rural localities in Russia. Kaluga Oblast As of 2010, two rural localities in Kaluga Oblast bear this name: * Podberezye, Babyninsky District, Kaluga Oblast, a village in Babyninsky District * Podberezye, Mos ...

, the Lovat turns northwest and enters Novgorod Oblast. Close to

, the Lovat shares a

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

with the Pola and the

, though technically Polist is counted as a tributary of the Lovat. The river basin of the Lovat comprises vast areas in the south of Novgorod and Pskov Oblasts, as well as some areas in

Tver Oblast Tver Oblast (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was known as Kalinin Oblast (). Population: Tver Oblast is a region of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno. Much o ...

and Vitebsk Oblast of Belarus. The Lovat is listed in the State Water Register of Russia as navigable between Parfino and the mouth, though there is no passenger navigation. Until the 1990s, it was used for timber rafting. The Lovat served as a stretch of the

trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empire ...

, the most important trading route of medieval Rus. From Lake Ilmen, ships went upstream the Lovat and then the Kunya, before ending up in the

Western Dvina The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of t ...

.They then travelled up the

Kasplya The Kasplya (Belarusian language, Belarusian and ) is a river in Smolensky District, Smolensk Oblast, Smolensky, Demidovsky District, Demidovsky, and Rudnyansky District, Smolensk Oblast, Rudnyansky Districts of Smolensk Oblast of Russia and in Vit ...

river to Lake Kasplya from where they crossed the portage to the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

, from where they could reach

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

via the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

References

External links

* {{Rivers of Russia Rivers of Novgorod Oblast Rivers of Pskov Oblast Rivers of Vitebsk region International rivers of Europe Rivers of Belarus