Moscow Canal

Moscow Canal
Moscow Canal
Specifications
Length79.6 miles (128.1 km)
Locks8+2+1
(originally 8)
Maximum height above sea level531 ft (162 m)
History
Former namesMoskva–Volga Canal
Date completed1937 (1937)
Geography
Start pointIvankovo Reservoir
End pointMoskva (river)

The Moscow Canal (Russian: Кана́л и́мени Москвы́), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a canal in Russia that connects the Moskva (river) with the Volga. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Moscow Oblast. The canal connects to the Moskva River in Tushino (an area in the north-west of Moscow), from which it runs approximately north to meet the Volga River in the town of Dubna, just upstream of the dam of the Ivankovo Reservoir. The length of the canal is 128.1 kilometres (79.6 mi).

It was constructed between 1932 and 1937 by 200,000 gulag prisoners, under direction of the Soviet secret police and Matvei Berman.