Tulcea

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = ROU
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Tulcea

|official_name=Tulcea


image_shield=CoaTulcea.pngsubdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Tulcea County
subdivision_type2=Status
subdivision_name2=Autolink|County capital
settlement_type=County capital|
leader_title=Mayor
leader_name=Constantin Hogea
|leader_party=Democratic Liberal Party
area_total_km2=
population_as_of=July 1, 2007
population_total=92379
population_footnotes= [National Institute of Statistics, [http://www.tulcea.insse.ro/main.php?lang=fr&pageid=552 Population of Tulcea County and its cities on July 1, 2007] ] |latd=45|latm=11|lats=24|latNS=N|longd=28|longm=48|longs=0|longEW=E|
website=http://www.primaria-tulcea.ro/

Tulcea (pronounced|'tul.tʃe̯a; Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian: Тулча, "Tulcha"; Turkish: "Hora-Tepé" or "Tolçu") is a city in Dobrogea, Romania. It is the administrative center of the Tulcea county, and has a population of 91,875 as of 2002.

History

Tulcea was founded in the 7th century BCFact|date=March 2007 under the name of "Aegyssus", mentioned in the documents of Diodorus of Sicily (3rd century BC). Ovid referred to it in "Ex Ponto", saying that its name would have originated with that of its founder, a Dacian named "Carpyus Aegyssus".

After the fights from 12-15 B.C., the Romans conquered the town. They rebuilt it after their plans, their technique and architectural vision, reorganizing it. The existing ruined walls and defending towers serve as a testimony of this. Also an inscription found at the Tulcea Museum of Archaeology mentions the name Aegyssus for the town. The Aegyssus fortified town is mentioned also by other documents until the 10th century: Notitia Episcopatum in political geography "De Thematicus".

It was then ruled by the Byzantine Empire (5th - 7th century), the Bulgarian Empire (681-c.1000; 1185-14th century) [Theophanes, ibid., p.357-358] [Nicephorus, ibid., p.34] [Laiou, A. E. Constantinople and the Latins (Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328). Cambridge, Mass., 1972.] [Brătianu, G. I. à Cetatea Albă (Akkerman) au debut du XIVeme siècle-Byz, 2, 1926, 153-168] , the Genoese (10th - 13th century), it was part of the local Dobrujan polities of Balik/Balica, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici, and, for a brief while after 1390, ruled by the Wallachian Prince Mircea cel Bătrân.

In 1416 it was conquered and ruled for 460 years by the Ottoman Empire.

In the 17th century Tulcea was mentioned by the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi as a settlement with 600 houses, inhabited by Vlachs [ro icon Tulcea City Hall, [http://www.primaria-tulcea.ro/en/index.php?p=orasul_istoric Town history] , accessed on June 7, 2008] .

Around 1848, it was still a small shipyard city, being awarded city status in 1860, when it became a province capital.

In 1878 Tulcea was eventually awarded to Romania, together with the Northern Dobruja (see Congress of Berlin).

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, Tulcea has a population of 91,875 inhabitants, 91.3% of which are ethnic Romanian. Significant minority groups include Lippovan Russians (making up 2.78% of the total population), and Turks (1.4%).Most of the indigenous Bulgarians left the town in 1941 in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova.

Famous natives

*Crin Antonescu, deputy
*Georges Boulanger, violinist
*Alexandru Ciucurencu, painter
*Traian Cosovei, writer
*Radu Gheorghe, actor
*Virginia Mirea, actress
*Grigore Moisil, mathematician
*Dimitar Petkov, Bulgarian Prime Minister
*Lili Sandu, singer and actress
*Tora Vasilescu, actress

Famous inhabitants

*Stefan Karadzha, Bulgarian revolutionary, studied in Tulcea and is associated with the town

Twinned Towns

*flagicon|Denmark Aalborg, Denmark
*flagicon|Italy Rovigo, Italy
*flagicon|Bulgaria Shumen, Bulgaria

References

External links

* [http://www.primaria-tulcea.ro/ Tulcea City Hall]
* [http://www.prefecturatulcea.ro/ Tulcea County Prefecture]
* [http://www.cjtulcea.ro Tulcea County Council]

ources and references

*Theophanes, ibid., p.357-358
*Nicephorus, ibid., p.34
*Laiou, A. E. Constantinople and the Latins (Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328). Cambridge, Mass., 1972.
*Brătianu, G. I. Les Bulgares à Cetatea Albă (Akkerman) au debut du XIVeme siècle-Byz, 2, 1926, 153-168