Lake Peipus Lake Peipus Lake Peipus (; ; ) is the largest transboundary lake in Europe, lies on the border between Estonia and Russia. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia north of St. Petersburg), Lake Vänern (in Sweden), and Lake Saimaa (in Finland). Lake Peipus represents a remnant of a body of water which existed in this area during an Ice Age. It covers , and has an average depth of , the deepest point being . The lake has several islands and consists of 3 parts: The lake is used for fishing
Staraya Ladoga ports of Eastern Europe. Merchant vessels sailed from the Baltic Sea through Ladoga to Novgorod and then to Constantinople or the Caspian Sea. This route is known as the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. An alternative way led down the Volga River along the Volga trade route to the Khazar capital of Atil, and then to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to Baghdad. Tellingly, the oldest Arabian Middle Age coin in Europe was unearthed in Ladoga. The original inhabitants of the settlement were Norsemen. The hypothetical original Finnic name, "Alode-joki" (i.e., "lowland