ASPECTE NOI PRIVIND TOPOGRAFIA CETATII DE LA HÂRŞOVA (JUD. CONSTANTA)

The first phase of construction of the fortress of Harsova can probably be traced back to the second half of the first century AD. Destroyed and rebuilt several times both in Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the fortress was functional until 1829 when, according to the Adrianopol Treaty, it was destroyed by the Turks. The fortress consists of a citadel placed on top of Fortress Hill and a small defense on Belciug Hill, both connected by a large trapezoidal enclosure, with imposing towers placed at the northeastern and northwestern corners. The modern city is built on top of the remains and, unfortunately, the stone was taken out of the fortress walls and reused in modern constructions. In certain areas, the walls have been completely destroyed. Remains of the fortress can still be seen in a few places. The first aim of the present study is to correlate the little information offered by written historical records with the data gathered during archaeological research and with significant archaeological findings that were made in a rather random manner. Another objective of this analysis is to validate the importance of a series of historical data, some of which have been for a long time unjustly considered implausible. The need to address this problem also arises from the fact that in recent years there has been a significant development in the archaeological research in this area which led to a better understanding of the true significance of these vestiges both from a scientific point of view as well as from a cultural perspective. The earliest image of the Harsova Fortress is described by the Turkish traveler Evlia Celebi in 1651. He portrays a strongly enforced fortress situated on the cliffs facing the Danube which was surrounded by a wall 3000 steps long, with two gates on its western and eastern sides. An identical description is made by the Count of Langeron in the year 1.809. He writes that the fortress is surrounded by a defensive wall which protects a stone citadel and a tower, both situated on the right bank of the Danube. In 1826 H. von Moltke sketches the first known plan of the fortress (Fig.1). Two lithographs dating from the same period were also found, one of them depicting the image of the citadel itself (Fig.2) and the second (Fig.3) offering a panoramic view of the entire fortification. By projecting these two images into the X-Y plan we find a striking similarity between the two images, von Moltke's plan and the remains of ancient Roman walls still visible among modern constructions in the present-day city (Fig. 4). At the end of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century, remains of the fortification system were still visible. They are illustrated on an army map from 1900 (Fig.5) on top of which Pamfil Polonic drew the perimeter of the largest enclosure (Fig.6). About the citadel itself the well known topographer notes that the visible remains belong to the Turkish fort while the roman fortress remains unidentified. At the same time D.M Ionescu draws on an existing city.