Sit (river)

{{Infobox river

| name = Sit

| name_native = {{native name|ru|Сить}}

| image = Стела. д. Лопатино.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| image_caption = The memorial on the Sit' battlefield

| map = Rybinsk vdhr eng.svg

| map_caption = Map of the Rybinsk Reservoir basin. The Sit is shown on the map.

| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = Russia

| length = {{convert|113|km|abbr=on}}

| source1_location =

| source1_elevation =

| source1_coordinates =

| mouth = Rybinsk Reservoir

| mouth_location =

| mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|58|18|41|N|37|52|53|E|display=it|region:RU-ARK_type:river_source:dewiki}}

| discharge1_avg =

| progression = Rybinsk Reservoir→ {{RVolga}}

| basin_size = {{convert|2370|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}

| tributaries_left =

| tributaries_right =

}}

The Sit ({{langx|ru|Сить}}) is a tributary of the Rybinsk Reservoir (nominally, of the Mologa, into which the Sit used to flow before the reservoir was filled).[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article102677.html Great Soviet Encyclopaedia] The river flows for {{convert|159|km|mi}} through Sonkovsky District of Tver Oblast and Nekouzsky and Breytovsky Districts of Yaroslavl Oblasts of Russia before entering the Rybinsk Reservoir near the large village of Breitovo. Its average width varies from {{convert|40|to|50|m|ft}} The river mouth is about {{convert|1500|m|ft}} wide. The drainage basin occupies some {{convert|1900|km2|mi2}}. The river is {{convert|159|km|mi}} long.{{cite web|url=http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=175657|script-title=ru:Река Сить|publisher=State Water Register of Russia|language=Russian|accessdate=24 August 2013}}

The name of river is associated with the bloody Battle of the Sit River (1238). In the Middle Ages the valley of the Sit belonged to a branch of the princely House of Yaroslavl. The princes of the Sit', or Sitsky, joined the service of the Grand Dukes of Muscovy in the 15th century. The family survived into the 17th century and was closely related by blood to the Romanovs.[http://www.biografija.ru/show_bio.aspx?id=118380 Russian Biographical Dictionary]

The source of the Sit is in the north of Sonkovsky District, close to the village of Saburovo. The river flows northeast, enters Yaroslavl Oblast, and turns south. By the selo of Voznesenskoye it turns east and eventually north. The mouth of the Sit is in the selo of Breytovo.

The drainage basin of the Sit includes the eastern part of Krasnokholmsky District of Tver Oblast, the eastern part of Sonkovsky District, the western part of Nekouzsky District, and some areas in Breytovsky District. The district centers Sonkovo and Breytovo lie in the drainage basin of the Sit.

In the early 20th century the valley of the Sit River was home to the Sitskari (ru), an ethnic group of short fair-haired people speaking a Northern dialect of the Russian language. It is thought that they had a mixture of Lithuanian or some other Baltic ancestry.[http://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/rus/sian/6.htm Институт этнологии и антропологии РАН: Этнографические группы русского народа]