Yauza River Map

Personal project
2019/2022

+ Download hi-res printable version of the map +

The Yauza is an introvert river. the gloomy waters of the Yauza run thoughtfully, winding through Moscow, from the northeast to the center, disappearing now and then in industrial zones and under road junctions. All muscovites know the Yauza, but few know it personally, from the source to the mouth.

The Yauza is doomed to be in the shadow of its older sister, the Moscow river. That river offers grand views, while the Yauza river features brick walls of once mighty factories, rusty entryways of soviet research institutes, traces of vanished villages around Moscow, hospitals, prisons, the first Moscow water pipeline, pre-revolutionary dachas of rich muscovites, and again — factories and plants.

I spent most of my life near the Yauza and have always been drawn to its mysterious, industrial character. In 2019 I decided to cycle along the entire riverbed and start my research. Four years later, the project developed into a map of the Yauza river featuring the main landmarks located near its banks. Some sites still survive, others no longer exist, but the stories about them are alive.