The Mzymta (; Abkhaz: Мӡы́мҭа; , ''Mezmytha'') is a river in Northwestern

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, flowing through Mostovsky District and the city of

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

( Adlersky City District) of Krasnodar Krai,

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 Mzymta is the largest river in Russia emptying into 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 ...

. It is long with a watershed of . All the venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics were in the Mzymta Valley.

Geography

The source of the Mzymta is in Lake Verkhny Kardyvach in

Western Caucasus The Western Caucasus is a western region of the North Caucasus in Southern Russia, extending from the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus. World Heritage Site The Western Caucasus includes a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site (named Western Caucasus), ...

, at a height of . The upper course of the river is located within the Caucasus Zapovednik. The Mzymta flows in a narrow valley through Lake Kardyvach and forms several waterfalls, the biggest of which is Izumrudny (Emerald), . Downstream of Lake Kardyvach, the river flows west and enters Sochi National Park. The banks are covered with

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forests and chestnuts, and also ancient Ubykh gardens with wild

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

and chestnut. In Esto-Sadok and Krasnaya Polyana the Mzymta flows through the first urban area, where some of the events of the 2014 Winter Olympics took place. Downstream it turns south. The Mzymta comes through the Akhshtyr and Dzykhra gorges, which are popular tourist attractions. The Mzymta enters the Black Sea in Adler, where the rest of the Winter Olympics took place. At the mouth, there is a big talus train, dividing into branches across the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s. Mzymta carries out to sea large amounts of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

. Mineral springs are also found in the catchment basin. The river is fed by

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

s and rain freshets. The Mzymta is a floatable river, and the popular attraction is

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

. Krasnopolyanskaya hydroelectric power station has a reservoir with a daily streamflow regulation.

Average intensity of flow

* Krasnaya Polyana: * Kepsh: (max )

Major inflows

* Pslukh * Pudziko * Chvizhepse

Inhabited localities

* Estosadok * Krasnaya Polyana * Chvizhepse * Kepsha * Monastyr * Galitsyno * Kazachy Brod * Vysokoye * Moldovka * Adler

References

{{Rivers of Russia Rivers of Krasnodar Krai Sochi Tributaries of the Black Sea