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Tichileşti is a leper colony in Isaccea, Tulcea County, Romania, having 10 inhabitants in 2018. [1] Although officially a hospital, Tichileşti appears to be more like a small village, and is formally administered as a village by Isaccea. Tichileşti was founded as a monastery, in 1875 becoming a leper colony.
Tichilești's name is derived from the Turkish name of the settlement, Tekeli is derived from the Turkish word teke , meaning "he-goat". [2]
Tichileşti was founded as a monastery, in 1875 becoming a leper colony. [3] A legend says the monastery was founded by one of the Cantacuzino princesses who was affected by leprosy. Another theory of the history the settlement is that a group of Russian refugees (see Lipovans) settled there and founded the monastery, but soon became outlaws who were eventually caught. [4]
In 1918, for unknown reasons, a part of the lepers moved to Largeanca, near the Bessarabian town of Ismail, while the rest of them being allegedly killed and their bodies being burned or thrown in a lime pit. [4]
Following a 1926 newspaper article by F. Brunea-Fox, a journalist who lived with the lepers for three weeks, a hospital was built in 1928 at the monastery. [4] The houses and the central courtyard were built in the 1930s. [3]
In July 1932, a group of 25 starving lepers from Tichileşti threatened to march to Bucharest and entered the town of Isaccea demanding food. Local grocers and farmers had stopped supplying them food because the government had not been providing funding. The Isacceans barred their houses until the military escorted the lepers back to their colony. [5]
Initially, the lepers were not allowed to leave the colony. This changed in 1991, but many residents, who had lived most of their lives in the colony, continued living there. [6]
European Union funds came to Tichileşti in the decade following the year 2000, and they were able to install bathrooms, refrigerators, and satellite television, and to put air-conditioners in the canteen. [3]
The last case of leprosy in Romania was diagnosed in 1981 and the age of the patients in Tichileşti in 2002 ranged between 37 and 90, [7] most of them having an age of more than 60 years. [4] In Tichileşti there are two churches, one Orthodox and one Baptist. [6]
A cure for leprosy has been known for a long time, however the disease was too advanced for these people who live in Tichileşti. As a result they were not cured but it made it no longer contagious. [8]
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damage may result in a lack of ability to feel pain, which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection due to unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and poor eyesight. Leprosy symptoms may begin within one year, however, for some people symptoms may take 20 years or more to occur.
Brăila County is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila.
Constanța is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța.
Tulcea County is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea.
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 2011 census, it has a population of 4,955.
Câmpulung, or Câmpulung Muscel, is a municipality in the Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is situated among the outlying hills of the Carpathian mountains, at the head of a long well-wooded glen traversed by the Râul Târgului, a tributary of the Argeș.
Măcin is a town in Tulcea County, in the Dobrudja region of Romania.
A leper colony, lazarette, leprosorium, or lazar house was historically a place to quarantine people with leprosy. The term lazaretto, which is derived from the biblical figure Saint Lazarus, can refer to quarantine sites, which were at some time also "colonies", or places where people affected by leprosy lived or were sent. Many of the first lazarettes were operated by Christian monastic houses. Leper hospitals exist throughout the world to treat those afflicted with leprosy, especially in Africa, Brazil, China and India.
Kalaupapa is a small unincorporated community on the island of Molokaʻi, within Kalawao County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. In 1866, during the reign of Kamehameha V, the Hawaii legislature passed a law that resulted in the designation of Molokaʻi as the site for a leper colony, where patients who were seriously affected by Hansen's disease could be quarantined, to prevent them from infecting others. At the time, the disease was little understood: it was believed to be highly contagious and incurable. The communities where people with leprosy lived were under the administration of the Board of Health, which appointed superintendents on the island.
Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion,, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 20,139 people.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Kalaupapa, Hawaiʻi, on the island of Molokaʻi. Coterminous with the boundaries of Kalawao County and primarily on Kalaupapa peninsula, it was established by Congress in 1980 to expand upon the earlier National Historic Landmark site of the Kalaupapa Leper Settlement. It is administered by the National Park Service. Its goal is to preserve the cultural and physical settings of the two leper colonies on the island of Molokaʻi, which operated from 1866 to 1969 and had a total of 8500 residents over the decades.
The island of Spinalonga is located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka. The island is further assigned to the area of Kalydon. It is near the Spinalonga peninsula – which often causes confusion as the same name is used for both. The official Greek name of the island today is Kalydon.
Sainte-Enimie is a former commune in the Lozère department in southern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Gorges du Tarn Causses. It was founded in the 7th century by Énimie, who started a convent there after being cured of leprosy in the surrounding waters. It was the site of several monasteries, some of which still remain. Located in the Gorges du Tarn, it is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association.
Leprosy was said to be first recognized in the ancient civilizations of China, Egypt and India, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, was officially eliminated at the national level in China by 1982, meaning prevalence is lower than 1 in 100,000. There are 3,510 active cases today. Though leprosy has been brought under control in general, the situation in some areas is worsening, according to China's Ministry of Health. In the past, leprosy sufferers were ostracized by their communities as the disease was incurable, disfiguring and wrongly thought to be highly infectious.
Mayfield, historically Ballinamought, is a working class area in the north-side of Cork City, Ireland.
Cocoş Monastery is a monastery in Isaccea, Romania, located in a forest clearing 6 km south of the town centre and 6 km of Niculițel.
Jesus cleansing a leper is one of the miracles of Jesus. The anecdote is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 8:1–4, Mark 1:40–45 and Luke 5:12–16.
Worldwide, two to three million people are estimated to be permanently disabled because of leprosy. India has the greatest number of cases, with Brazil second and Indonesia third.
The Culion Leper Colony is a former leprosarium located on Culion, an island in the Palawan province of the Philippines. It was established by the US government in order to rid leprosy from the Philippine islands through the only method known at the time: isolating all existing cases and gradually phasing out the disease from the population. In addition to segregating the disease from the rest of the population, the island was later established in order to offer a better opportunity for people afflicted with leprosy to receive adequate care and modern treatments.
Kate Marsden was a British missionary, explorer, writer and nurse. Supported by Queen Victoria and Empress Maria Fedorovna she investigated a cure for leprosy. She set out on a round trip from Moscow to Siberia to find a cure, creating a leper treatment centre in Siberia. She returned to England and helped to found Bexhill Museum, but she was obliged to retire as a trustee. Marsden was dogged after her journey by homophobia: her finances were questioned as were her motives for her journey. Her accusers almost succeeded in making her sexuality the basis for an "Oscar Wilde"-type trial. She was however elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She has a large diamond named after her and is still celebrated in Siberia, where a large memorial statue was erected at Sosnovka village in 2014.