The Pisa (; ) 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 north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

with a length of 82 km and a basin area of 4,510 km².Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017

Statistics Poland Statistics Poland (, popularly called GUS), formerly known in English as the Central Statistical Office, is the Polish government's chief executive agency charged with collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population, and s ...

, p. 85-86 It belongs to the

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lake Land () is a lake district in northeastern Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpath ...

of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The Pisa river flows from

Lake Roś Lake Roś ( Polish: ''Jezioro Roś'', German: ''Roschsee'') is a lake in the Masurian Lake District of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland. The S-shaped glacial lake has an area of and a maximum depth of . The Swięcek and Konopka river ...

near the town of

Pisz Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', ) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junction of Lake Roś and t ...

, and is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...

, connecting the Lakeland region with the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

. The

Pisz Forest Puszcza Piska Forest or the Pisz Forest () is the largest forest complex of the Masuria region in northern Poland, adjacent to the Masurian Landscape Park, and the Masurian Lowlands. Formerly known as the Jańsborska wilderness, Puszcza Piska bea ...

borders the river on its west bank. The name Pisa comes from the ancient

Prussian language Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoi ...

word "pisa", meaning "swamp." The name dates back to the

Galindae Galindians were two distinct, and now extinct, tribes of the Balts. Most commonly, Galindians refers to the Western Galindians who lived in the southeast part of Prussia. Less commonly, it is used for a tribe that lived in the area of what is t ...

tribe who lived in the area before the arrival of the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

, who referred to the Pisa as the ''Galinde''. In November 1982 the Polish Centre for Research and Control of the Environment (Ośrodek Badań i Kontroli Środowiska) in

Łomża Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...

included Pisa in the first class category for purity of its water. Pisa is a picturesque lowland river with its most scenic stretches around its upper and lower reaches. In the middle part, the river flows through boggy meadows. Along its entire length Pisa is navigable. Considerably deep (1–1.8 m), it has the shallowest depth at its mouth, at the

river. Pisa is strongly meandering with the average descent of 32 cm per kilometer. Canoeing down the river from

Nowogród Nowogród is a small town in northeastern Poland, located about away from the city of Łomża, Łomża County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, with 1,998 inhabitants (2004). It is centered on the area known as Skansen Kurpiowski which is an open-air m ...

takes about 4–5 days.

Bibliography

* W. Brenda, D. Serafin, ''Piskie ścieżki Rowerowe Informator Turystyczny'',

Town Centre, pp. 34–38 Rivers of Poland Rivers of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship {{Poland-river-stub