The Histria
fortress was the first Greek colony on the West of the Black
Sea and the oldest city on Romanian territory. It has been
founded in the middle of the 7th century B.C.
(657 B.C. according to Eusebius) by Milet colonists. The
city had a not interrupted development for 1300 years
starting with the Greek period up to the Roman Byzantine
period. At the end of the 6th and during the 7th
century a.D. the fortress has been destroyed by the Avar-Slavic
invasions, which determined its inhabitants to desert the
city.
The ruins of
the fortress remained unknown for a long period of time and
have been explored for the first time in 1914 by the
archeologist Vasile Pârvan. The archeological delving works
have succeeded each other annually ever since and have
brought to light numerous and eloquent proofs of the
material and spiritual life of the fortress inhabitants.
This material is also an important evidence for the
Roman-Greek history in Dobruja.
During the
Greek period (7th 1st century B.C.)
the city had two distinctive parts: the acropolis is covered
nowadays by the ruins of the late fortress and it was used
as a sacred area, a very important zone for the city
religious life. In the 6th century B.C. this area
was very well constituted as the Zeus and Aphrodite temples
prove. A stone site surrounded the civilian settlement area
on the West side of the acropolis since the archaic epoch.
The diggings made on this plateau have enabled
identification of house ruins from the archaic, classic and
Hellenic period and also identification of some ceramic
workshops. During the classical period a democratic regime
has been established at Histria (according to Aristoteles)
and the city adhered to the Athens Maritime League. A highly
developed trading allowed the city to stamp its own coin in
the middle of the 5th century B.C. The citadel
has been destroyed several times from the 6th 4th
century B.C. and every time it has been rebuilt so in the
Hellenic period a new site wall has been constructed.
Epigraphic and archeological evidence prove the existence of
numerous temples and other public edifices.
In the first
century B.C. the city has been confronted with serious
threats intensified by external dangers. There is a proof of
the existence of a strategus king of Pontus, Mithridates VI
Eupator. In 72 B.C. the fortress has been conquered by Roman
armies under M. Terentius Varro Lucullus. After a short
ruling by the Getan king Burebista the citadel has been
included permanently within the boundaries of the Roman
empire after the last campaign of M. Licinius Crassus from
29 28 B.C.
Under Roman
ruling Histria was undergoing a new stage of development.
The most important economical activity was agriculture and
fishing. The citadel expresses its loyalty to Rome by
practicing the imperial religion ever since the Augustus
ruling. In the 2nd century a.D. the citadel
adheres to the West Pontical Community (Pentapolis, called
afterwards Hexapolis). The citys prosperity has been
archeologically proved by the vestiges of the site wall that
was built at the beginning of the 2nd century and
also by some public buildings such as the two thermal
edifices. Towards the middle 3rd century, during
the carpo-Gothic attacks, the city suffers a violent
destruction. A reconstruction period followed as the late
site wall construction demonstrates. It restricted
drastically the city to an area of 7 ha.
The
Roman-Byzantine epoch (4th 6th
century) did not reflect the old glamour anymore but there
has been documented very precisely by archeological research
the fact that the inhabitants have continued living inside
as well as outside of the site wall area. Most of the
monuments that can be seen today date from this period. Five
Christian basilicas have been discovered including a big one
in the center of the fortress that had a well-determined
Episcopal character reflecting the intense religious life
from a time when Christianity became the state religion.
Archeological diggings have brought to
daylight a number of monuments that are included in the
visiting itinerary. To be noted is the late Roman site with
the main gate and the defense towers. Nearby two thermal
edifices can be seen and also a series of public buildings
from the Roman-Byzantine period that have been erected
inside the late site: three civilian basilicas and four
paleo-Christian basilicas, public market places, stores,
residential districts (Domus) and economical districts. The
delving works also offer several archeological materials
that now are exhibited in the great fortress museum:
remarkable architectonic fragments, sculptures,
inscriptions, construction materials, Greek and Roman
ceramics, glassware, and metal work.
Rezervaţia
Ornitologică Histria – Sinoe
Complexul lacustru Razelm - Sinoe este reprezentat prin subcomplexul
Sinoe, constituit din lacurile Sinoe, Istria, Nuntaşi, Taşaul,
având o suprafaţă de 16500 de hectare.
Peisajul
lacustru deosebit de pitoresc, unic în ţara noastră, precum
şi rezervaţia naturală „Cheile Dobrogei”
situată pe cursul inferior al pârâului Casimcea (285 ha), fac din
această regiune o comoară inestimabilă din punct de vedere
geologic, istoric şi botanic (572 specii identificate).
