Construction and characteristics of the Adjider-Ovidiopol fort (fortress) according to cartographic sources of the 1793-1798

Abstract

The article details and illustrates the process of creating the Adjider-Ovidiopol Fort based on plans and maps of 1793-1798. It talks about its designer F. de Volant and other construction managers, defines the stages of construction and provides a general description from the point of view of scientific fortification. It is emphasized that at the same time, the construction of a number of buildings and piers of the base of the Dniester squadron of the Black Sea Rowing Fleet, as well as the Salt Store and other infrastructure facilities, was being carried out nearby. In addition, the author analyzed, attributed and more precisely dated the reports, maps and plans drawn up in Ackerman in 1793 and 1797 by the engineer F. Kauffer.

The above facts allow us to raise the question of recognizing the author of the ‘Map of the Depths of the Dniester Estuary and Straits’ by the French engineer F. Kauffer. Its survey could have been carried out during his first works in Akkerman, which according to the dates of the plans date back to 1793, and one – to June 27. The dating of this document by O. Sereda in 1790 is erroneous, as is also evidenced by the entire course of the construction of the Ajider Fort described by us. As for the manuscripts of the report and the note, the materials for them were probably collected during the aforementioned trip of F. Kauffer to Moldova and Budjak, in October 1797.