Noi date privind sistemul defensiv al cetății medievale (otomane) de la Hârșova (jud. Constanța)
New data about the defensive system of the medieval (Ottoman) fortress in Hârșova (Constanța county)

Summary/Abstract: The medieval Ottoman fortress in Hârșova is a less known historical monument. The on-site research made there by Pamfil Polonic at the end of the 19th century continued by Victor Brătulescu, Andrei Aricescu or, much later, by Gheorghe Cantacuzino, have brought inssuficient clarifications on its planimetry and development. Satisfactory results have been achieved after the digging in the ’fortress’, in the sectors ’western precincts’ and ’northen precincts’ done in the last three decades. These results allowed a clear separation between the ancient and medieval fortifications and thus the confusion in their interepretation has been removed. A preventive research in 2018 at the crossroads of the Luminii and Carsium streets (Pl. I B) gave the opportunity to bring to light the defensive system of the Ottoman fortresss on the large northen precincts, very close to the north-western tower. There are some brief descriptions of the shape and walls of Hârșova fortress dated in the first half of the 19th century, due to the count of Langeron and baron von Moltke (Pl. I A). There were found partially in the present digging the ditch of the fortress deepened in the lime stone and the counterscarp of the defense wall. The ditch was brought to light on an area of 115 sqm (Pl. II, Fig. 1). In order to deepen it at max. 1.40 m, the natural fractures of the stone were used; chisels and spikes were used for the hardest stones, from what indicate the holes found on the digging surface. To the southern end of the section there were identifiend various plates of green shale and the rest of the counterscarp wall was found to the northen end. The large precincts found beyond Luminii street in 2003, during to another preventive research and counterscarp were dismantled when the fortress did not function anymore, to the end of the first part and during the 19th century and even at the beginning of the 20 th century and the stone was re-used to build the new town, while the ditch was covered by the demolishment levels of the walls or by modern deposits (Pl. III).The counterscarp (Pl. IV, Fig. 2) was made of small stones carved at the surface and stuck with plaster made of sand and lime. The basement of the wall was added to a threshold raised in the natural stone, in order to provide much more resistance to the building. The 1.40 m thick wall was totally uncovered and it maintained the maximum 0.80 m height only on the western end of the carved area. Mostly the first front row of the basement and the plaster mark of the wall on the stone surface resisted time. There have been recovered of the stones only few crenel fragments that probably belonged to the building. There are few data about the fortress in Hârșova and its defense system and some of them are unclear. Evliya Çelebi who visited Hârșova in 1651 said the fortress had 3.000 paces and it had a spectacular position, close to the Danube, on the western side, while the town was situated on the southern side. The count of Langeron, von Moltke or the general Chesney described the fortress in the first part of the 19th century, providing some very important details that have been confirmed by recent findings: the 14-15 feet precincts is strenghtened with palisade, it has a dry ditch in front of it and a wall counterscarpe. Present findings corroborated with the findings in 2003, on the northen-western tower allow to design a plan of the constituent elements of the fortress’ system of the defense: the large precincts strenghtened with palisade, the dry ditch and the wall counterscarp (Pl. V). Preliminary, we can provide their sizes, in the present stage of research. Therefore, the precincts could be more than 2 m thick and 4-6 m high; the opening ditch was 22-23 m large, while the counterscarp wall was 1.30-1.40 m heigh. In spite of the fact there are still many questions with no answer until present, the results of the recent digging at the crossroads of Carsium and Luminii streets open a new prespective for researching the medieval Ottoman fortress in Hârșova, with consequences in the knowledge of the military architecture of this epoch in the Danube area.

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