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The Tighina Fortress (Romanian : Cetatea Tighina; renamed by the Turks as Bender) is a 15th-century fortress on the right bank of the Dniester River in Bender (also known as Tighina), Moldova, built from earth and wood during the reign of Prince Stephen the Great. In 1538 it was conquered by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who ordered it to be rebuilt in stone and enlarged.
The earliest mention of Tighina, as a settlement and customs post, is found in the commercial privilege granted on October 6, 1408, by the Prince of Moldavia Alexander the Good to the merchants of Lviv. Later, throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, the name of Tighina is frequently recorded in medieval documents. In the Moldavian documents that mention the locality, in Tighina, along with the royal customs and the crossing, a guard is mentioned. In the only document from the Prince Stephen the Great (1457-1504) in which Tighina appears, the guard is also mentioned. [1]
As for the fortress of Tighina, 19th-century researchers, following the information circulating in previous centuries, accredited the idea that it was built in the 12th century by the Genoese, as well as Hotin and Cetatea Albă fortresses. The military historian Aleksander Zaschuk saw in the architecture of the inner citadel a pronounced western character. The first and only definite mention of the existence of the Moldavian fortification itself, of the fortress (probably of wood and earth), is found in the Moldavian-Polish Chronicle from the middle of the 16th century. It relates, referring to the Ottoman conquests of 1538, that the Turkish sultan Süleyman "took possession of the Moldavian fortress Tighina." [1]
Archaeological investigations of limited extent, carried out by the researcher Ion Hîncu in 1969, allowed the discovery of housing complexes and a defense ditch belonging to the 15th-16th centuries. Archaeological excavations have led to the identification of a fortification, probably of wood and earth, which preceded the later stone construction. The surface of the fortress' courtyard of circular or ovoid shape was covered with a layer of ashes. Ceramic and metal objects bear traces of fire. [1]
The fortress, having been rebuilt by Petru Rareș [ clarification needed ] and conquered in 1538 by the Turkish sultan Soliman the Magnificent, became the residence of the Turkish raya. Its old name was replaced by a new one, Bender, meaning "river port, berth". During this period, Soliman I ordered that the fortress be rebuilt in stone and enlarged according to the design of the architect Sinan, the reconstruction works being completed only in 1541.
Using local resources and the work of the local peasants, the Ottomans turned the fortress into a well-established fighting outpost. At that time the fortress built of stone was a quadrangle surrounded on three sides by a very deep ditch.
By the end of the 16th century, Moldavian detachments had attacked the Bender fortress several times, but without any success. In the summer of 1574, John the Brave had besieged it with his army. Then in 1595 and 1600 Michael the Brave had made two attempts, but neither of the two rulers had any success. Around the same time, Bender was attacked by the Zaporozhian Cossacks. In the years 1705-1707 the works of strengthening this fortification of special military importance on behalf of Turks were continued by the prince Antioh Cantemir. In this last variant, the fortress consisted of an ensemble of 10 bastions and 11 towers surrounded by the same traditional defense ditch.
The bitter fate of the fortress ruled by the Turks made the chronicler Miron Costin write that "the fortress of Tighina has darkened". As a result of the three Russo-Turkish wars, it came under the rule of the Russian Empire, the Tsarist generals finding it very suitable for military barracks. From 1812 or rather from the second half of the 19th century,[ clarification needed ] the fortress of Bender gradually began to lose its former strategic importance.
Since 1991, the fortress has been under the control of the breakaway Transnistrian state, which restored it between 2008 and 2012. [2]
Bender or Bendery, also known as Tighina, is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) (PMR) since 1992. It is located on the western bank of the river Dniester in the historical region of Bessarabia.
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, historically known as Aq Kirmān or by other names, is a port city in Odesa Oblast, southwestern Ukraine. It is situated on the right bank of the Dniester Estuary leading to the Black Sea, in the historical region of Budjak. It also serves as the administrative center of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion and is coterminous with Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It is the location of a large freight seaport. Population: 47,727.
Budjak, also known as Budzhak, is a historical region that was part of Bessarabia from 1812 to 1940. Situated along the Black Sea, between the Danube and Dniester rivers, this multi-ethnic region covers an area of 13,188 km2 (5,092 sq mi) and is home to approximately 600,000 people. The majority of the region is now located in Ukraine's Odesa Oblast, while the remaining part is found in the southern districts of Moldova. The region is bordered to the north by the rest of Moldova, to the west and south by Romania, and to the east by the Black Sea and the rest of Ukraine.
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Trajan's Wall is the name used for several linear earthen fortifications found across Eastern Europe, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. Contrary to the name and popular belief, evidence shows the ramparts were likely not built under the reign of Trajan, but later, in the period of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages. The association with the Roman Emperor Trajan may be a recent scholarly invention of the national awakening movement of the 19th century, linking the emerging identity of the modern Romanian people to the glory of Classical Rome. Documents from medieval Moldavia referred to the earthworks as Troian, likely in reference to a mythological hero in the Romanian and Slavic folklore. The other major earthen fortification in Romania, Brazda lui Novac, is also named after a mythological hero.
This is the history of Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldovan–Ukrainian border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank.
Official statistics of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, or Transnistria, show that 91 percent of the Transnistrian population adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, with 4 percent adhering to the Catholic Church. Roman Catholics are mainly located in Northern Transnistria, a region with a notable Polish minority.
The Battle of Khotyn or Battle of Chocim, also known as the Hotin War, took place on 11 November 1673 in Khotyn, where the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the Grand Hetman of the Polish Crown John Sobieski defeated Ottoman Empire forces, with Moldavian and Wallachian regiments, led by Hüseyin Pasha. It reversed the fortunes of the previous year, when Commonwealth weakness led to the signing of the Treaty of Buchach, and allowed John Sobieski to win the upcoming royal election and become the King of Poland.
The Khotyn Fortress is a fortification complex located on the right bank of the Dniester River in Khotyn, Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine. It lies within the historical region of northern Bukovina, a Romanian territory occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The fortress is located near another famous defensive structure, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle. Construction of the current stone Khotyn Fortress began in 1375. The fortress underwent significant improvements in the 1380s and in the 1460s under the Moldavian princes Alexander the Good and Stephen the Great.
Neamț Citadel is a medieval fortress located in north-eastern part of Romania, near Târgu Neamț, Neamț County. It was built in 14th century Moldavia during Petru I of Moldavia's reign and expanded in the 15th century. The citadel played a key role in Stephen III of Moldavia's defense system, along with Suceava, Hotin, Soroca, Orhei, Tighina, Chilia and Cetatea Albă.
This deals with the History of Transnistria before it became part of the Russian Empire in 1792.
The Soroca Fort is a historic fort in the Republic of Moldova, in the modern-day city of Soroca.
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Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress or Akkerman fortress is a historical and architectural monument of the 13th–14th centuries. It is located in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in the Odesa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, the historical Budjak.
Terebovlia castle is a ruined 17th-century castle in the town of Terebovlia in western Ukraine.
The battle of Bender, also known as the battle of Tighina or the battle of Bendery, was fought between 19 and 21 June 1992 between Moldova, backed by volunteers, military advisors and purchased weapons sourced from Romania; and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, an unrecognized breakaway state that declared independence from Moldova and relied on direct military support from Russia. The battle occurred in Bender, also known as Tighina, a city with a strong ethnic Russian presence at the western bank of the Dniester River. This is different from the rest of currently Transnistrian-controlled lands, which are located at the eastern bank of it. Bendery is the Russian name of the city and Tighina is the Romanian one, with Bender being an old Ottoman name.
Castles, fortresses and fortifications in  Moldova | ||
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| Castles, fortresses and fortifications |  | |
See also: Forts and Castles in Moldova, Palaces and Manor Houses in Moldova, Culture of Moldova * is used for castles located in the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria | ||