Ottoman town Tulcha and its fortresses in the XVII-XIX centuries

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of long-term and earthen defensive structures of town Tulcea (Romania), which existed from the first half of the 18th to the middle of the 19th centuries. Most of them played the role of bridgeheads at the crossings of the St. George branch of the river. Danube on the road to Ishmael. During this period, a number of objects of different times were fixed on the plans, maps, and iconographic sources known and cited in the work. The first was the Ottoman castle of the 1630s – 1810s (?), which was able to accurately localize, restoring its construction and size. The second was the bastion fortress, which had a very short history (1825-1829). Some of the earthen redoubts or forts (tabia) have existed since at least 1771, while others were later built by Turkish or Russian troops. In addition, several plans mark a mosque, first mentioned by Eulia Celebi in 1657, which stood on the site of the current jamia of the Sultan Abdulaziz (Moscheea Azizyie, built in 1863), and in other sources – at least three more mosques in the western and central parts of the town.