Isaccea
Template:Infobox City in Romania
Isaccea is a small town in Tulcea County, in Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2002 census, it has a population 5,614.
The town has been inhabited for thousands of years, as it is one of the few places in all the Lower Danube that can be easily forded and thus the best link between the Balkans and the steppes of Southern Russia. The Danube was for a long time the border between the Romans, later Byzantines and the "barbarian" migrating tribes in the north, making Isaccea a border town, conquered and held by dozens of different peoples.
Geography
The town has in administration 96.71 km², of which 3.69 km² are inside the residential areas. The town is divided in three settlements: Isaccea proper (4,789 inhabitants), Revărsarea (563 inhabitants) and Tichileşti (22 inhabitants). The Tulcea – Brăila roadway (DN22/E87) crosses the town.
The town is located in near to the Măcin Mountains and Dobrogea Plateau (in the south) and the Danube (in the north). Many lakes could once be found in the town, but some of them were desiccated by the Communist authorities in order to use the terrain for agriculture. This initiative lacked success, since the soil of the area proved to be not very fertile. Some larger lakes still remain: Saun, Telincea, Rotund, Ghiolul Pietrei, Racova. In April 2006, the dyke which protected this terrain failed and the Danube flooded again the areas which used to be wetlands.
Name
Possibly the earliest mentioning is in De Administrando Imperio (around 950) of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. It talks about six deserted cities between the Dniester and Bulgaria, among them being Saka-katai, katai being most likely a transcription of a Pecheneg word for "city". The name Saka could in turn be derived from Romanian sacă/seacă, meaning "barren". [1]
The following reference to this name was in 11th century a local ruler named "Satza" or "Saccea" (Sakça), for the first time used by Byzantine Anna Comnena in her Alexiad. Nicolae Iorga presumed that the ruler was Romanian, however "-ça" (-cea) is a typical Turkish suffix.
The 14th century Arab geographer Abulfeda mentions the town under the name "Saecdji", which was a territory of the "Al-Ualak" (Wallachs).
The initial "i" in the name was added during the Turkish domination, due to the same feature of Turkish language that transformed "Stanbul" to "Istanbul". Some local legends claim that the town was named after a certain Isac Baba, however the other explanation is more likely to be true, as the name of the town initially lacked the "i".
Other historical names include:
- Noviodunum - Celtic name meaning "New Fort" ("novio" means "new", while "dunum" is Celtic for "hillfort" or "fortified settlement")
- Genucla - Dacian name of a possibly nearby settlement, derived from Proto-Indo-European *genu, knee.
- Vicina - Genoese name of the nearby port built by Genoese traders as an outpost of the Byzantine Empire.
- Obluciţa - Slavic name derived from the word "oblutak", that means a rock that was shaped by water into a rounder form.
History
Ancient history
The land where the town is now was inhabited since ancient times. Daco-Getic and Celtic peoples populated the area in classical times. In 514 BC, Darius I of Persia fought here a decisive battle against the Scythians. A trade post was also built in this town by the Greeks.
After it was taken by the Romans, the town was fortified and became the most important military and commercial city in the area. In Noviodunum was located the base of the lower Danube Roman fleet named Classis Flavia Moesica, as well as the headquarters of the Roman Legio I Iovia. A treasure containing 1071 Roman coins was found about 3 km from the citadel, being burried during the rule of Gallienus (267), probably during the raids of the Goths and Heruli. [2] The town also became a centre of the Christianity in the 4th century, in 1970s was found the grave of four Roman Christian martyrs named Zotic, Attal, Kamasie and Filip in nearby Niculiţel.
In 369 an important battle was fought between the Romans, led by emperor Flavius Valens amd the Visigoths led by Athanaric. Valens' army crossed the river at Noviodunum (Isaccea) using a boat bridge and met the Gothic army in Bessarabia. Although Valens obtained a victory for the Romans, they retreated and the Goths asked for a peace treaty, which was signed in the middle of the Danube, the Goths promising to never set foot on Roman soil. [3]
After the division of the Roman Empire, it became part of the Byzantine Empire and it was the most important Byzantine naval base on the Danube. Valips, a chieftain of Germanic Rugians (who were allies of the Huns), took Noviodunum sometimes between 434 and 441 and it was included in the Hunnish Empire, but it was soon retaken by the Byzantines and Justinian I built new fortifications and made it an episcopal see.
The Slavs began to settle in early 6th century and probably the earliest reference is Jordanes' book (written in 551) The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, which named the town Noviodunum as the southern extremity of the region were the "Sclaveni" lived. [4]
The Byzantines lost the town in 602 to the migrating people (Avars and Slavs) and for the following four centuries, Isaccea faded from history. [4]
Mediaeval history
Around 950, Constantine Porphyrogenitus talks of six desert cities in the area, one being named Saka-katai, which could be the earliest mentioning of the town after it was lost to the migrating people during the Dark Age.
In 971, Isaccea was once again included in the Byzantine Empire and the walls of kastron were reinforced. In 1036, the Pechenegs being driven southward by the Cumans, settled in Scythia Minor, including in this city, fact backed by archeological evidence, such as leaf-shaped pendants, characteristic to them. The Pechenegs traded with the Byzantines, which led to a growth in the economic life of the region, as shown by the number of coins found in Isaccea, reaching 700 coins for the period of 1025-1055. However, the Pechenegs were eventually assimilated and faded from history.
In early 13th century, the Genoese navigators built near Isaccea a port named "Vicina" and by the end of that century there was a flourishing community which lead by a consul and was under Byzantine jurisdiction. The area fell under rule of Theodore Svetoslav (1300-1321) who took the control over all Dobruja, however the Genoese refused to continue trade under Bulgarian rule, because of the customs they'd have to pay when trading with the Byzantine Empire. After his death, the Tatars gained its control. [5]
However by 1331/1332, Vicina was again under Byzantine rule and in 1337/1338, it was occupied by the Tatars. The Metropolitan of Vicina, Makarios, however promised to the Patriarch of Constantinople that he would flee even though they were under pagan rule. The Genoese did not flee either, but soon the town's importance faded. [2]
The Nogai Tatars settled in the town in late 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, according to the Arab chronicles.[6] Abulfeda mentioned the town, placing it in the territory of the "Al-Ualak" (Wallachs), having a population mostly Turkic and being ruled by the Byzantines..[7] A Byzantine despotate existed in Northern Dobruja with Isaccea as its centre, which sometimes between 1332 and 1337 became a vassal of the Golden Horde of Nogais under the name "Saqčï". [2]
The Tatars held an important mint in Isaccea, which minted coins marked with Greek and Arabic letters between the years 1286 and 1351. Various types of silver and copper coins were minted, including coins bearing the mark of the Golden Horde with the names of the khans as well as the names of Nogai and his son Čeke (minted between 1296-1301). [2]
In late 14th century it was ruled by Mircea cel Bătrân, became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1417, regained by Vlad Ţepeş in 1462 during his campaigns against the Ottoman Empire, but in 1484 it was taken again by the Ottomans, being included in the Silistra (Özi) Province, which comprised Dobruja, much of present-day Bulgaria, and later also Budjak and Yedisan. The Ottomans built in Isaccea a fort for defending their northern border. On 6 October 1598, Mihai Viteazul defeated the Ottoman army at Isaccea, recapturing the town, but this lasted only a short time, since after Mihai's death in 1601, the town was regained by the Ottomans.
Modern history
During the wars between the Russians and the Turks of the 19th century, it occupied by each side for several times, being several times set on fire and it was almost completely destroyed.
Isaccea was besieged three times in the 1770s: in 1770, 1771 and 1779: in 1771, it was conquered by the Russians in the wake of the Battle of Kagul, the Russians destroying the fortifications and the mosques. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829, the town was again overrun by the Russians. However, unlike many other settlements in the region, it was not razed, but after ten years of devastating war, only 150 houses remained. In 1853, during the Crimean War, it was sieged again by the Russians, before the war theatre moved to Crimea.
A local legend explains the existence of a mound near the old bridge this way: during the Russo-Turkish wars a Turkish general accused of treason was buried alive (horse included), each of his soldiers being forced to bring a fez full of dirt and throw it over the general.
After the Independence War of Romania (1877-1878) against the Ottoman Empire, the town became part of the new state of Romania. After the Crimean War, an European Danube Commission was established, which decided to clear the silt between at the mouths of the Danube, between Isaccea and the Black Sea, however the increased trade on the Danube affected little Isaccea.
In 1915, Nicolae Iorga described Isaccea as "a gathering of small and humble houses spread over a hill slope".
Population
The majority of the population is formed by Orthodox Christian Romanians, but there is also a 4% minority of Muslim Turks.
Ethnic structure
According to the 2002 Romanian census, the ethnic structure of the population of Isaccea was the following:
| Ethnicity | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Romanian | 5,118 | 95.23% |
| Turkish | 208 | 3.87% |
| Ukrainian | 21 | 0.39% |
| Other ethnicities | 27 | 0.51% |
Religion
| Religion | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Ortodoxy | 5,099 | 94.88% |
| Islam | 223 | 4.14% |
| Baptists | 30 | 0.55% |
| Traditional Christianity | 14 | 0.26% |
| Other/none | 8 | 0.17% |
Economy
The town has long being a station in the trade between the eastern Mediterranean and the continental eastern Europe. The Greeks built their first trade post around 2700 years ago and trade continued after the Roman and later Byzantine and Ottoman takeovers. In the 16th century, the town's bazaar was one of the four most important trading posts in the Dobruja, with tradesmen coming from distant places, such as Chios or Ragusa.[8] The town lost its influence in the 19th century, as the sea and river transport was mostly replaced by train and later road transport.
Much of the local economy is based on agriculture, especially animal husbandry and fishing. Industry is based on extraction of rock from a nearby quarry and woodworking, there is also a pig farm, a tabbaco processing factory and a winery. A gas pipeline that brings natural gas from Russia to the Balkans goes through the town. The town is also a port on the Danube.
Local attractions
- The 2000 years old ruins of the Roman fortress of Noviodunum
- The 17th century Turkish mosque, that has a 25-meter high minaret
Notes
References
- Panighiant, Eugen (1960) Delta Dunării şi Razelmul, Bucureşti
- Vasary, Istvan (2005) Cumans and Tatars, Cambridge University Press
- Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire, AD 354-378, translated by Walter Hamilton (Penguin ISBN 0140444068)
- Thompson, E A (1999) The Huns, Blackwell Publishing
- Stephenson, Paul (2005) Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204, Cambridge University Press
- Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths, translated by Charles C. Mierow
- Brezeanu, Stelian (2002) Toponymy and ethnic Realities at the Lower Danube in the 10th Century, in "Annuario. Istituto Romeno di Cultura e Ricerca Umanistica, Venezia"
- --- (1976) Dicţionar de istorie veche a României, Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică
- Stănciugel, Robert and Bălaşa, Liliana Monica (2005) Dobrogea în Secolele VII-XIX. Evoluţie istorică, Bucharest