The
Gauja River (estonian:
Koiva jõgi; german:
Livländische Aa) is a river in
Vidzeme,
Latvia. It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 1/5 or 93.5 km are in the
Gauja National Park. In this part, the Gauja River flows through a spacious ancient
Gauja valley, which is 1 to 2.5 km wide, and the maximum depth near
Sigulda is 85 m. The sandstone rocks on the banks of the Gauja and its adjoining rivers started forming 370 to 300 million years ago during the
Devonian period.