‘Advertised’ as the
only medieval fortress in Dobruja, the southeastern region in Romania,
bordering the Black Sea, Enisala is an extremely rewarding experience, as
adjectives like ‘romantic’, ‘glorious’, and ‘legendary’ flood one’s mind at the
first visit. If heading north from Jurilovca, one is guided by a corridor of
trees and welcomed by the image of the fortress, at a distance, standing tall
and proud on a hill whose structure and appearance make the traveller recall
Scottish landforms, with a twist of French Provence,
in an extremely approachable Romanian landscape.
Seen from afar as
an irregular polygonal construction, Enisala had two chambers and walls built
of rock (Jurassic lime). With natural defences to the western, southwestern,
and northern part, the access to the fortress is via the southeastern wall. The
first chamber has four towers and three abutments and was discovered during the
archaeological diggings undertaken between 1963 and 1964, while the second
chamber was discovered following an aerial picture taken around 1969. It was
located to the north of the first chamber and was larger in area.
The name of the
fortress was formed by adjoining the Turkish word ‘yeni’ [new] and the Dobrujan
regionalism ‘sale’ [settlement]. The explanation may reside in the fact that
the Turks may have adapted the name of the administrative unit near the
fortress, called Vicus Novus [the new
village], and later on Novoe Selo. Although
there are sources referring to Enisala Fortress under the Latin names of Heraclia or Heracleea, how can the Turkish influences be explained?
Built by the
Genovese powers at the end of the thirteenth century/beginning of the
fourteenth century on the ruins of a Byzantine structure and later on included
in the defence system of Wallachia [the southern Romanian region stretching
during the rule of Mircea the Elder (1386-1418) between the Southern
Carpathians (to the north), the Danube (to the west and south), and the Black
Sea (to the east)], Enisala had a strategic and military role. Its main mission
was to control and to defend the land and especially the water traffic when
Lake Razim – which it overlooks – was still a gulf of the Black Sea. During
that period, the Genovese were practically the only ones in the region to
afford investing in a construction of such grandeur and Enisala Fortress was an
establishment to join the other Genovese settlements in the region – the towns
of Chilia and Likostomion in Danube Delta, Cetatea Albă at the mouth of Nistru
River, as well as Caffa and Balaclava in southern Crimea. First conquered by
the Turks in 1388, it was reconquered by Mircea the Elder in 1393 and lost
again to the Turks in 1417. When the latter managed to conquer Chilia and
Cetatea Albă in the second half of the fifteenth century and following the
formation of the sand streams separating Lake Razim and the Black Sea, Enisala
was abandoned because it was no longer according to the strategic and economic
interests of the Ottoman Empire.
Enisala’s downfall
would actually be its salvation. In spite of the order given by the Russian
generals, aiming at the destruction of all the medieval fortresses in northern
Dobruja 200 years ago during a period of heightened Russian influence in the
region, Enisala was the only one to escape by being inactive at that time. As a
result, it boasts the label listed at the beginning of this article and can
still delight the eye of the travellers and historians alike.
-Contributed by Olivia-Petra Coman.
_____________________
Bibliography:
http://360.inp.org.ro/index.php/obiective/cetatea-enisala-jud-tulcea-tur-virtual-video
(accessed 22/09/13) http://www.cetateaenisala.ro (accessed 22/09/13) ‘Archaeological News, European Lands’, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 54, No. 4 (1950) Bilde Pia, Guldager; Bøgh, Birgitte; Handberg, Søren; Munk Højte, Jakob; Nieling, Jens; Smekalova, Tatiana; Stolba, Vladimir; Baralis, Alexandre; Bîrzescu, Iulian; Gergova, Diana; Krapivina, Valentina; Krusteff, Krassimir; Lungu, Vasilica, and Maslennikov, Alexander, ‘Archaeology in the Black Sea Region in Classical Antiquity 1993-2007’, Archaeological Reports, No. 54 (2007–2008), pp. 115-173
Iosipescu, Raluca and Iosipescu, Sergiu, ‘Cronica cercetărilor arheologice din România’, Campania 2011, București
Pictures:
© Marcel Băncilă
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