Sviyazhsk or Zöyä is a rural locality (a selo) in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, located at the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of the Volga

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

 and Sviyaga River

Sviyaga River

The Sviyaga is a river in the Ulyanovsk Oblast and Tatarstan, a right tributary of the Volga River. It has a length of 375 km. The area of the basin is 16,700 km². The Sviyaga River flows into the Sviyaga Cove of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, west of Kazan. It freezes up in November-December and stays...

s. It is situated on an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 since the construction of the Kuybyshev Reservoir at Tolyatti

Tolyatti

Tolyatti , also known as Togliatti, is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Stavropolsky District, although it is administratively separate from it...

 downstream Volga in 1955.

Sviyazhsk was founded in 1551 as a fortress, which was built within four weeks from parts made in Uglich

Uglich

Uglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...

 and transported down the Volga. It became a military base

Military base

A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...

 of the Russian army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 during the siege of Kazan (1552).

Since the 15th century, Sviyazhsk served as a center of an uyezd

Uyezd

Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...

. In 1920–1927, it was a center of Sviyazhsky Kanton

Canton (subnational entity)

A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared to other administrative divisions such as counties, departments or provinces. Internationally the best-known cantons, and the most politically...

; in 1927–1931—the administrative center of Sviyazhsky District. In 1932, it was demoted to rural status.

There is a school and a club in Sviyazhsk, as well as a monastery associated with the name of Macarius of Unzha

Macarius of Unzha

Venerable Macarius of the Yellow Water Lake and the Unzha, the Miracle Worker is a Saint of Russian Orthodox Church.He is credited with the founding of four monasteries in the Middle and Upper Volga regions of Russia....

.

Sviyazhsk railway station

Sviyazhsk railway station

Station Sviyazhsk - Gorky Railway Station in Sviyazhsk. Enters into the Department of Railway Stations, a subsidiary of Joint Stock Company "Russian Railways".The station is located on the Moscow - Kazan - Yekaterinburg at a distance of 752 km from Moscow...

is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of the island and is linked with Sviyazhsk proper by a highway running along the dike.