Sudoma River

The Sudoma river is a tributary of the river Shelon, with its course located in the Sudoma uplands in the Pskov Oblast of Russia, that is part of the Lake Peipus drainage basin. [p.38, Mourad] The river is some 50km long, and rarely attains the width of 20m, being no deeper then 1m along its course. It notably flows through the Sosonskaya volost where a synonymous town also exists.

One version of the name is linked to a folk tale of a family of three giants that lived in the area, the name derived from the mother of the three. [http://www.pskovgrad.ru/2006/05/19/sudoma.html Судома History of Pskov and Pskov Oblast] The source of the river is located on the uplands of the same name, so named for apparently serving as a place of a judging ritual, the word for trial in Russian being "sud" ( _ru. суд) [http://www.pskovgrad.ru/2006/05/19/sudoma.html Судома History of Pskov and Pskov Oblast] , however the source is located in the lake Neverezhie ( _ru. озерo Навережье), and the name is only extant from the Nikonov chronicles (1539-1542), before which it was called Sudomir', meaning "peace trial" or "decision for peace".

The most ancient settlers in the area of the river were thought to be the Krivichi Slav tribe. In 1021 Bryachislav of Polotsk suffered a defeat during the battle on the Sudoma River. The river and the uplands are both mentioned by Leo Tolstoy.

During the Second World War the area was a scene of battles between the German forces and the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade ( _ru. 3-я Ленинградская партизанская бригада) (commander Colonel A.P. German _ru. Герман) where they conducted the Rail war. [see sources, Wikimapia]

References

ources

* Daniël Mourad, "Patterns of nutrient transfer in lowland catchments" (thesis), Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University
* Судома, History of Pskov and Pskov Oblast [http://www.pskovgrad.ru/2006/05/19/sudoma.html]
* Судома in wikimapia.org [http://wikimapia.org/5105442/ru/%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0]