Isaccea () is a small town in Tulcea County, in Northern Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2021 census, it has a population of 4,408.
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 be an easy link between the Balkans and the steppes of Southern Ukraine and Russia, north of the Black Sea. 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 under its administration 103.97 km2, of which 3.69 km2 are inside the residential areas.
+Land use in IsacceaIsaccea city hall website - Agriculture Type of usage Area Notes agricultural use 45.02 km2 cereals, orchards, vineyards and pastures floodplain 32.97 km2 along the Danube forest 22.76 km2 built-up areas 2.92 km2 buildings and roads
The town is divided into three settlements: Isaccea proper (4,789 inhabitants) and two villages, Revărsarea (563 inhabitants) and Tichilești (10 inhabitants).
The Tulcea – Brăila roadway (DN22/E87) crosses the town.
The town is located in near to the Măcin Mountains and Dobruja 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.
Along the Danube there is a floodplain, which gets inundated every spring, bringing fresh water to the lakes and the marshlands.National Institute of Statistics, "Anuarul statistic al judeţului Tulcea 2006" , p. 6 The largest lake in Isaccea is "Lacul Rotund" (literally, Round Lake), having an area of 2.19 km2 and a volume of 2.0 million m3.
Tichilești
Tichilești was founded as a monastery of Tichilești, with time becoming a leper colony. 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. In 1918, a part of the lepers moved to Bessarabian town of Izmail. Following a 1926 newspaper article, a hospital was built in 1928 at the monastery. In 1998, there were 39 people in the settlement, and according to the 2002 census, there were 22 people, most of them having an age of more than 60 years."Ultimul lazaret" , in Ziua March 21, 2006 By 2019, there were only 9 people.
Revărsarea Revărsarea was founded after the 1877 War of Independence, being settled by war veterans and colonists, the village being built in the place of a forest which has been cleared. It had several other names since: Piatra Calcată, Principele Nicolae (named after Prince Nicholas of Romania) and Ștefan Gheorghiu (named after Ștefan Gheorghiu, a trade unionist).Primăria Isaccea: Aşezare (at the website of the city hall)
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", however both the identification of the city with Isaccea and the etymology are mere speculations.Stelian Brezeanu Toponymy and ethnic Realities at the Lower Danube in the 10th Century, in "Annuario. Istituto Romeno di Cultura e Ricerca Umanistica, Venezia", 2002, (), p. 41–50
The first clear reference to this name was in the 11th century, when there was a local ruler from Vicina named Σακτζας (Saktzas, probably Saccea / Sakça), for the first time used by Byzantine Anna Comnena in her Alexiad.Alexiad, Book Six Nicolae Iorga presumed that the ruler was Romanian,Nicolae Iorga, Les premières cristallisations d'état des Roumains, Acadèmie Roumaine, Bulletin de la Section Historique (), V-VIII (1920), p. 33-46 however "-ça" (-cea) could also indicate a Turkic suffix.
The 14th-century Arab geographer Abu'l-Fida 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 Ottoman domination, due to the same feature of the 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 (Latin); Νοβιόδοῦνος, Noviodounos (Greek) - ancient name of Celtic origin, meaning "New Fort" ("nowyo(s)" means "new", while "dun" is Celtic for "hillfort" or "fortified settlement").Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, The Celts: A History, Boydell Press, 2002, , p. 153 Genucla - Dacian name of a possibly nearby settlement, derived from Proto-Indo-European *genu, knee. Oblucița (Romanian); Облучица, Obluchitsa (Bulgarian); Obluczyca (Polish) - Slavic name derived from the word "oblutak", that means a rock that was shaped by water into a rounder form. Vicina - Genoese name of a port built by Genoese traders as an outpost of the Byzantine Empire. Its location is still unknown, but one of the theories is that it was around Isaccea.
History
Ancient history
The land where the town is now has been inhabited since prehistoric times: the remains of a Neolithic settlement, belonging to the Boian-Giulești culture (4100–3700 BC) were found in the northwestern part of the town, in a place known as "Suhat".Integratio: Dobrogea de Nord: Isaccea: History , a project of the Centro Universitario Europeo per i Beni Culturali, accessed December 2006.Constantin Haită. "Studiu sedimentologic preliminar pe situl neolitic Isaccea-Suhat. Campania 1998", Peuce (), 2003, 14, p.447-452.
The Neolithic culture was succeeded by the Getae culture with Hellenistic influences. The Celts expanded their territory from Central Europe, reaching Isaccea in the 3rd century BC (see Gallic invasion of the Balkans) and giving the ancient name of town, "Noviodunum", as well as of other names in this region, such as Aliobrix, on the other side of the Danube and Durostorum further south in Dobruja.D.M. Pippidi et al., (1976) Dicționar de istorie veche a României, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică (), p 149; entry: CelțiAlexandru Barnea, "Noviodunum, azi Isaccea (I)", Ziarul Financiar, August 17, 2007
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. Greek authors such as Ptolemy and Hierocles name it a "polis".
The town was taken by the Romans in 46 AD and became part of the Moesia province. It was fortified and became the most important military and commercial city in the area, becoming a municipium.Bărbulescu et al., p. 73 Its ruins are located 2 km to the east of modern Isaccea on a hill known as Eski-Kale (Turkish for "Old Fortress").
Noviodunum fort was the main base of the lower Danube Roman fleet named Classis Flavia Moesica, then temporarily the headquarters of the Roman Legio V Macedonica (106-167), Legio I Italica (167-) and Legio I Iovia.J. J. Wilkes, "The Roman Danube: An Archaeological Survey", The Journal of Roman Studies, , Vol. 95, 2005, p.217
Around 170 AD, the Roman settlements in Dobruja were attacked by the Dacian tribe of the Costoboci, who lived in what is now Moldavia, their attack being visible in the archeological remains of Noviodunum.Bărbulescu et al., p. 57 Further attacks continued in the 3rd century, this time by the combined forces of the Dacian tribe of the Carpi and of the Goths, the decisive battle being probably in 247.
The violent invasions of the Carpi, who plundered the cities and enslaved their inhabitants, left behind many archaeological traces, including buried coin hoards and signs of destruction.Bărbulescu et al., p. 60 The fortress of Noviodunum was probably destroyed during the raids of the Goths and Heruli, during the rule of Gallienus (267), buried hoards being found near it, including a larger treasure containing 1071 Roman coins.D.M. Pippidi et al., (1976) Dicționar de istorie veche a României, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică (), p 431-432; entry: Noviodunum The raids left Noviodunum, like other urban centres in the area, depopulated, only returning to its original state toward the end of the 3rd century.
During the rule of Constantine I (306-337), the Noviodunum fortress was rebuilt as part of a bigger project of restoring the Empire's borders along the Lower Danube.D.M. Pippidi et al., (1976) Dicționar de istorie veche a României, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică (), p 185; entry: Constantinus
By the 4th century, the town also became a Christian centre. The tomb of four Roman Christian martyrs, discovered in September 1971 in nearby Niculiţel, bears the names Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Philippos. They were probably killed in Noviodunum during campaigns of persecutions of early Christians by Diocletian (303-304) and Licinius (319-324),Mircea Păcurariu, "Sfinți daco-romani și români", Editura Mitropoliei Moldovei și Bucovinei, Iași, 1994, , p.25 being taken out of the city and buried as martyrs by the local Christians.
In 369 an important battle was fought between the Romans, led by emperor Flavius Valens and the Thervingi 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 (possibly because of the lateness of the season)Michael Kulikowski, Rome's Gothic Wars, Cambridge University Press, . p.116 and the Goths asked for a peace treaty, which was signed in the middle of the Danube, the Goths taking an oath to never set foot on Roman soil.Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire, AD 354-378, translated by Walter Hamilton (Penguin ), book 15
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,E. A. Thompson, The Huns, Blackwell Publishing, 1999, , p.269-270 the area becoming a fiefdom of the Hunnish leader Hernac after Attila's death.Bărbulescu et al., p. 103
The Slavs began to settle in early 6th century and possibly the earliest reference to their settlement in the town is Jordanes' book (written in 551) The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, which mentioned Noviodunum as an extremity of the region were the "Sclaveni" lived.Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths , translated by Charles C. Mierow, V. 35 The town continued to be under Byzantine rule, but it suffered the raids from other nomadic peoples, such as the Kutrigurs (559) and Avars (561-562). In the mid-6th century, Justinian I built new fortifications and made it an episcopal see.
During the rule of Phocas (602-610), a massive number of Avars and Slavs crossed the Byzantine border and although their presence protected the empire from other nomads, their control became just formal, until in 681, the Byzantines recognised the First Bulgarian Empire and gave up their claims for the Scythia Minor province. For more than 300 years, Isaccea faded from history and there is no historical or archaeological evidence that the place was even inhabited.Kiel, p. 288
Mediaeval history