Szinva is a stream in northern

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainag ...

to the river

Sajó The Sajó ( , Hungarian) or Slaná ( Slovak) is a river in Slovakia and Hungary. Its length is 229 km, of which 110 km is in Slovakia. Its source is in the Stolica Mountains range of the Slovak Ore Mountains. It flows through the ...

. It originates in the

Bükk The Bükk Mountains () are a section of the North Hungarian Mountains of the Inner Western Carpathians. Much of the area is included in the Bükk National Park. Geography Although Kékes, the highest point in Hungary, is not here but in the ...

Mountains. It is long, of which can be found the city of

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the fourth larges ...

, through which the stream flows from west to east. More than 70 bridges were built over the stream, and in parts of the city centre it flows underground. The damming of the streams Szinva and Garadna formed

Lake Hámori A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in Miskolc-Lillafüred around 1770. The highest waterfalls of the country (20 metres high) can be found on the Szinva nearby. It is a major tourist attraction. Since the water of most of the water springs of the stream are fed into the water supply system of the city, and the upper reaches of the stream often run dry in summer, water has to be pumped from the lake for the waterfalls to work. Garadna flows into Szinva about after the waterfall. The Szinva was responsible for the great flood of 1878, one of the largest floods of the 19th century. The flood claimed about 400 lives and almost completely destroyed the downtown of Miskolc. Before 1990, when Miskolc was a heavy industrial centre, the water of the stream was very

polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, mostly because of the paper factory of Diósgyőr. Today it is much cleaner, to the extent that some

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

now live in it. The Szinvapark shopping mall – one of the largest in Miskolc – was built on the two sides of the stream; the buildings are connected by a bridge over the Szinva. A newly constructed public square, the Szinva Terrace is also named after the stream.

External links

Waterfall photos
{{coord, 48, 06, N, 20, 50, E, display=title, region:HU_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Miskolc Rivers of Hungary Geography of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County