By Viktor Filas | Khortytsia National Academy, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

Description

Kiliia Fortress was located in the Danube River delta, where main trade routes connected Europe to the Black Sea. According to one of the legends, in ancient times, the settlement was initially called Achilleus, and received the name from Alexander the Great himself in honor of the hero of ancient Greek mythology, buried nearby, on Snake Island. Kiliia was first mentioned in the 11th century in a list of Byzantine castles during the time of Emperor Andronikos II (r. 1282–1328), and was incorporated into the military-administrative system of Byzantium. By 1318–23, the castle was referred to as “Kelliia” or “Likostomion" in the list of Constantinople’s possessions.

Strategically located on an island along the northern branch of the Danube River, Kiliia Fortress became a vital transit point and supply base for commercial and military vessels. The city’s heyday came under Genoese rule around the middle of the 14th century. This prosperity is evidenced by the notarial acts of the Italian notary Antonio de Podenzolo from 1360–61. These documents reveal that Kiliia had a central square, the Orthodox Church of St. John, three banks, a loggia of the Genoese commune, residential buildings, shops, a mill, and a port with numerous canals for loading ships.

Significance

The convenient location of Kiliia Fortress made it a crucial military outpost and trade center, significantly impacting the economic and political life of the Danube region. As such, possession of Kiliia was of strategic importance. Along with Belgorod, Kiliia was considered a key to the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, as well as Hungary. Consequently, military conflicts over Kiliia were frequent, and often intense.

During the early 15th century, Kiliia Fortress was part of Wallachia while Mircea the Old (1355–1418) was on the throne. It later came under the control of the Moldavian ruler Alexander the Good (r. 1400–32), and this lasted until the dynastic wars between his sons, Stephen II and Elias. These conflicts resulted in Moldavia losing Kiliia Fortress to Wallachia.

The history of "new" Kiliia began under the reign of the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great (r. 1457–1504). He attempted to reclaim "old" Kiliia in 1462 but was unsuccessful. It was only in 1465 that the Moldavian army managed to recapture it from the Wallachians. However, due to other territorial losses, Kiliia, as the southern outpost of the Moldavian principality, became isolated from the rest of the country. Consequently, in 1479, Stephen the Great ordered the construction of a new fortress on the northern bank of the Danube River, opposite “old” Kiliia, which was located on the southern bank. The Chronicle mentions that the fortress was built in record time, from June 22 to July 15, using the labor of "800 masons and 16,000 auxiliary workers." But could such a large structure really have been built in just 25 days? It is more likely that the chronicle describes the completion of a specific defensive unit of the complex, with the main construction work likely completed earlier.

Kiliia Fortress did not remain in Moldavian control for long. In 1484, it was captured by the Ottoman troops of Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1447–1512). After the conquest, “new” Kiliia fortress was restored and partially rebuilt. In 1495, 90 Ottoman ships loaded with construction materials arrived in Kiliia. On the site of the church of St. John, located within the fortress, Sultan Bayezid II built a mosque, marking the beginning of Ottoman rule in the Lower Danube region.

But what did this new Ottoman stronghold on the Danube look like? Both written records and images of the fortress provide insights. Impressed by the new Turkish stronghold, the Ottoman chronicler and official Tursun Bey wrote in his “Turkish Chronicles”: “...The depth of its ditch amazed the imagination, and when water was released into the Danube, the fortress looked like an island. The walls and towers were high and formed barriers, and the enemy’s rise to them was impossible.” A century and a half later, the Italian traveler Nicolo Barsi also admired the powerful walls and high towers of Kiliia Fortress. In 1659, Bishop Philip Stanislavov described Kiliia as a city with 1,205 houses. The most detailed account came from the explorer Evliya Çelebi, who visited in 1659. He described three rows of stone walls and a very deep ditch, provided names for the towers, and offered an internal description of the fortress’s structure. Kiliia had several active mosques and two Orthodox churches. In the suburb, there were trading shops, a school, and Turkish baths along the banks of the Danube River.

In addition to the memoirs of the various travelers who visited Kiliia and left scant records, there are also visual materials that provide clearer insights into the features of the fortifications in Kiliia. The Turkish chronicler Nasuh Matrakci left one of the earliest drawings of the stone fortress, depicting 11 towers, some of which are decorated with circular belts. The fortress had firing loops and ports for artillery. The architecture of the buildings inside the fortress is depicted in a rather monotonous manner, with low houses featuring small windows and tiled roofs, which could potentially serve as defensive strongholds if captured.

One of the engravings from the diary of the Austrian merchant N. Kleemann, published in 1773, depicts Kiliia Fortress. Kleemann captured the city and fortress on the way to Crimea, where he carried out trade orders for his government. The engraving of the fortress shows urban development characterized by one- and two-story houses, dominated by mosque minarets, giving Kiliia the appearance of an Eastern city. On the right, the engraving shows the fortress itself from the Danube side. Created by the engraver Berndt based on Kleemann's memories, the image of Kiliia reflects European practices and experience. The engraving features a conventional representation of the landscape and lacks detail, offering only a conditional topography of the city. The city's Ottoman identity is conveyed by the numerous minarets with crescents on their spires, reflecting the emotional impact of transforming oral information into graphic form. This image of Kiliia Fortress, based on Kleemann's memoirs, became popular in the last third of the 18th century and was frequently copied and reproduced in various European publications.

Of great interest in the study of the fortress is the prospectus of 1770 from the Military Historical Archive in Moscow. It represents the fortress from a bird's eye view from the land side, with the Danube River in the background. It makes it possible to imagine the urban space of the Kiliia Forstadt and the fortress as a complex. Another view of the city of Kiliia in 1770 offers an architectural plan of the fortress from three sides, taking into account the landscape.

As a result of the Russian-Turkish wars, the fortress of Kiliia was captured in 1790 and ultimately became part of the Russian Empire in 1812, attracting new visitors and travelers. Interesting information about Kiliia Fortress is provided by seven watercolors and drawings by the artist Mikhail Ivanov, who was seconded as a draftsman to Governor General G.A. Potemkin. These works, stored in two albums in the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg, offer valuable insights into the features of the fortress's during the 19th century.

At that time, the tallest were the citadel's towers, which suggests that it was built in an era before the widespread use of firearms. It is most likely that the citadel was built by the Genoese in the 14th century as the residence of a consul or as a military stronghold to protect a trading post from enemy attacks. It can also be seen that one cylindrical tower on the border of the “garrison” and “civilian” courtyards has two stone supports on the shore side. The citadel gate is completed with a semicircular arch. The corner north tower is widened toward the base for stability. All curtains are completed with crennel, and the towers are covered with hipped or conical roofs, which is typical for many fortresses in Bessarabia.

The conquest of Kiliia Fortress by Russian troops led to its modernization. Engineer Kauffer's drawing is particularly valuable as it overlays the new Turkish bastion fortress onto the old Moldavian one. After reconstruction began in 1794, only five stone towers, an internal moat, and a rebuilt Genoese citadel remained from the original Moldavian-Ottoman fortress. The bastion structure built by Kauffer stood for more than six decades until it was demolished in 1856 in accordance with the Paris Peace Treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires.

Kiliia Fortress, which changed hands over the centuries, played a central role in defending the southern borders of the Moldavian principality and, later, the Ottoman Empire. Located on the northern bank of the Danube River, Kiliia, together with the fortresses at Izmail, Bendery, and Bilhorod, formed a powerful defensive line controlling the crucial steppe corridor between the Black Sea and the Carpathian Mountains. Unlike the other fortresses, however, Kiliia also served as a vital trade hub, giving the Moldavians and later the Ottomans control over shipping along the Lower Danube River.

Further Reading

Byrnya, Pavel. "Kiliya i Nizhnii Dunai v epokhu Stefana Velikogo" [Kiliia and the Lower Danube in the era of Stephen the Great]. Stratum plus 6 (2003): 180–189.

The work summarizes diverse information about the most important Lower Danube region in the history of medieval Moldavia during the era of Stephen the Great, centered in the city of Kiliia. Based on the primary sources of Moldavian authors, as well as foreigners, the outstanding role of Kiliia in the economy of the Danube region, which persisted even after the occupation of the region by Sultan Bayezid II in 1484, is revealed.

Krasnozhon, Andriy. Fortetsi ta mista Pivnichno-Zakhidnoho Prychornomorya (XV–XVIII st.) [Fortresses and cities of the North-Western Black Sea Coast (XV–XVIII centuries).]. Odesa, 2018.

The monograph examines the history of the fortresses of the North-Western Black Sea Coast in the 15th–18th centuries in the context of the development of defensive complexes from stone castle architecture to bastion fronts. Issues related to the typology, origin, dating, localization, and functional capacity of fortification objects in the region, including the Kiliia fortress, are addressed. Special attention is given to the historical topography of Kiliia and other cities, as well as to the medieval Moldavian, Greek, Armenian, and Ottoman epigraphy from a source science perspective. Dozens of historical plans and images, materials from modern reconstructions, and the author's dimensional drawings of military and civil architecture monuments from the 15th to the 18th centuries have been introduced into scientific discourse.

Sapozhnikov, Ihor. "Topohrafiya fortetsi ta mista Kilii za opysamy i hrafichnymy dzherelamy 1650-kh – 1790-kh rr." [Topography of the fortress and city of Kiliia according to descriptions and graphic sources of the 1650s – 1790s]. Starozhytnosti Lukomorya 2, no. 2 (2000): 5–30.

The article explores the topography of Kiliia fortress and city from the 1650s to the 1790s, based on the descriptions and graphic documents, notably artistic drawings, maps, and plans by military topographers and engineers. It delves into the transformation of mosques into Orthodox churches and the presence of Muslim cemeteries, along with the discovery of a marble stele dated April 1770 in the central cemetery of Kiliia, unearthed by the author in 1995.

Shlapak, Mar'yana. "Kiliiskaya kamennaya krepost'" [Kiliya stone fortress]. Stratum plus 6 (2005–2009): 421–429.

The article examines the history of the existence of Kiliia as a Genoese fort, the fortress of Stephen the Great and the Ottoman bastion fortification built later. The article provides a detailed description of the stone fortress. Through analysis of historical records and architectural insights, it provides a comprehensive understanding of Kiliia's strategic significance and its role in regional geopolitics.

This contribution was sponsored through the project HER-UKR - Challenges and Opportunities for EU Heritage Diplomacy in Ukraine.