Moscow Canal

The canal just north of Moscow, passing through the reservoirs

The Moscow Canal (Russian: Кана́л и́мени Москвы́), named the Moscow-Volga Canal until the year 1947, is a canal that connects the Moskva River with the main transportation artery of European Russia, the Volga River. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Moscow Oblast. The canal connects to the Moskva River 191 kilometers from its estuary in Tushino (an area in the north-west of Moscow), and to the Volga River in the town of Dubna, just upstream of the dam of the Ivankovo Reservoir. Length of the canal is 128 km.

It was constructed from the year 1932 to the year 1937 by Gulag prisoners during the early to mid Stalin era, under the direction of Matvei Berman.

Thanks to the Moscow Canal, Moscow has access to five seas: the White Sea, Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and the Black Sea. This is why Moscow is sometimes called the "port of the five seas" (порт пяти морей). Apart from transportation the canal also provides for about half of Moscow's water consumption, and the shores of its numerous reservoirs are used as recreation zones.

Coordinates: 56°43′N 37°08′E / 56.717°N 37.133°E / 56.717; 37.133