Rybinsk reservoir, or it is also called the Rybinsk Sea, is an artificially created a large reservoir on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa. It is located mainly in the northwest of the Yaroslavl region, as well as in the Vologda and Tver regions.

Rybinsk reservoir was created in the late 1930s - early 1940s, water retaining structures located in the northern part of the city of Rybinsk hydropower, which cover the riverbed Sheksna and Volga. The hydroelectric power plant building is included, which was built on the old line Sheksna, riverbed earthen dams and levees, match them concrete spillway dam and built on the twin channel Volga gateway.

The reservoir is intended for hydroelectric power generation, it is navigable. About 17 thousand years ago on the site of the reservoir was located glacial lake. Over time, it became shallow, and there was a wide Mologa-Sheksna Lowland.

It was assumed that the Rybinsk Reservoir is the largest artificial lake in the world.

Rybinsk hydroelectric began building the village Perebory in 1935. In the fall of 1940 blocked the channel of the Volga. April 13, 1941 began to fill the reservoir cup. To complete the work on the new place had to resettle 130,000 people - residents of Mologa and 663 villages were flooded Leushinsky monastery 3/4 Vesyegonsk territory, Yugskaya deserts. Filling the reservoir continued up until 1947. It has also been flooded for more than 3, 5 thousand sq. M. kilometers of forests.

After the Rybinsk reservoir was filled, the water is gone and 1/8 Yaroslavl land, including 80 hectares of floodplain meadows of the best in the Volga region, which is not inferior grass grasses of alpine meadows on the quality, more than 70 thousand hectares of arable land cultivated for centuries more than 30 thousand hectares of productive pastures, 250 thousand hectares of forest berries and mushrooms.

Beach Rybinsk Reservoir - low, it stretches along the coast damp meadows, marshes and forests. Only in the valleys of the rivers flooded in some places you can find cliffs covered with pines. The height of waves in the reservoir can be up to 2 meters.

With the advent of the reservoir climate in the surrounding areas has changed. In the summer it became more humid and cool. In winter, the reservoir freezes. From mid-November until the beginning of it keeps the ice. Its thickness is 60-70 cm. From the north-west coast of the reservoir often come off the large beds of peat vegetation and small trees, which then float across the waters independently, creating a mini-biosystems.

Ship fairway away from the coast. The duration of the navigation here is 190 days. The main ports - Cherepovets and Vesegonsk. The reservoir is connected with the Volga-Baltic system through Sheksna.

Rybinsk Sea is a vast laboratory of the Institute of Biology of Inland Waters. In the northwest of the reservoir is Darwin Reserve, which specializes in research on the effects of reservoirs on the southern taiga nature complexes.

In the Rybinsk reservoir live: sturgeon (sturgeon), sprat (herring), peled, whitefish (whitefish), smelt (smelt), burbot (cod), pike, catfish, eel, goby Golovach, trout, eel. Carp family are diverse: white-eyed bream, blue bream, bleak, bream, carp, nase, ide, chub, crucian carp, silver and gold, asp, saber fish, roach, dace.