Mzymta

200px|thumb|right|Mzymta emptying into the Black Sea 200px|thumb|right|Mzymta from the Akhshtyrskaya cave The Mzymta (; Abkhaz: Мӡы́мҭа; , Mezmytha) is a river in Northwestern Caucasus, flowing through Mostovsky District and the city of Sochi (Adlersky city district) of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The Mzymta is the largest river in Russia emptying into the Black Sea. It is long with a watershed of . All the venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics were in the Mzymta Valley.

==Geography== The source of the Mzymta is Lake Verkhny Kardyvach in Western Caucasus, at a height of . The upper course of the river is located within the Caucasus Nature Reserve. The Mzymta flows in a narrow valley through Lake Kardyvach and forms several waterfalls, the biggest of which is the Izumrudny (Emerald) waterfall, . Downstream of Lake Kardyvach, the river flows west and enters Sochi National Park. The banks are covered with beech forests and chestnuts, and also ancient Ubykh gardens with wild pear, walnut and chestnut. In Esto-Sadok and Krasnaya Polyana, the Mzymta flows through its first urban area, where some of the events of the 2014 Winter Olympics took place. Downstream it turns south. The Mzymta comes through the Akhshtyr and Dzykhra gorges, which are popular tourist attractions. The Mzymta enters the Black Sea in Adler, where the rest of the Winter Olympics took place. At the mouth, there is a big talus train, dividing into branches across the floodplains. Mzymta carries large amounts of silt out to sea. Mineral springs are also found in the catchment basin. The river is fed by spring tides and rain freshets.