tulcea

The city is known in Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian as Тулча, romanized: Tulcha; in Greek as Αιγισσός, romanized: Aigissós; in Hungarian as Tulcsa;{{cite book |last1=Alexe |first1=Virginia |last2=Bărbulescu |first2=Gabriela |last3=Dascălu |first3=Violeta |last4=Ioniță |first4=Daniela |translator-last1=Opra |translator-first1=Zsuzsanna-Maria |translator-last2=Albert |translator-first2=Andreea |translator-last3=Deregan |translator-first3=Sidonia |year=2021 |title=Földrajz: Tankönyv a IV. osztály számára |trans-title=Geography: Textbook for grade four |url=https://edu.litera.ro/manuale/2021_404_GEO4/GEO4_HU.pdf |language=hu |location=Bucharest |publisher=Litera |isbn=978-606-33-8271-0 |access-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807152302/https://edu.litera.ro/manuale/2021_404_GEO4/GEO4_HU.pdf |url-status=live }} and in Turkish as Tulça.

File:Eastern Moesia.png: cities and roads]]

File:Cetatea Aegyssus2.JPG

Tulcea was founded in the 7th century BC under the name of Aegyssus, mentioned by Procopius.{{Cite web |url=https://topostext.org/work/239#4.7.1 |title=Procopius, On Buildings, §4.7.1 |access-date=March 23, 2020 |archive-date=July 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719045122/https://topostext.org/work/239#4.7.1 |url-status=live }} Ovid recorded a local tradition that ascribed its name to a mythical founder, Aegisos the Caspian.Ovid Ex Ponto 4.9

Aegyssus was built on a high hill, a strategic location for guarding the Danube particularly under the Romans.

The amphorae discovered from 1st century BC to 1st century AD suggest the town was an important trading centre of the period.

After the Getic raids from 12{{ndash}}15 ADOvid Ex Ponto 4.9 the Romans conquered the town and soon after built a new city.

After Trajan's Dacian Wars at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, the city was included in the Moesian Limes defensive frontier system as a military fort and port for a detachment of the Classis Flavia Moesica.

The baths were built at the end of the 1st century AD and used until the beginning of the 5th century after several reconstruction phases, in the third of which a large palaestra was added on the north side.

In the second half of the 3rd century AD, the cohors II Flavia Brittonum (from Britain) was garrisoned here, and in the next century the vexillatio Aegyssensis of Legio I Iovia. During the 4th-5th centuries, the city still preserved its military statute (headquarters of cuneus equitum armigerorum, praefectus ripae legionis primae ariae cohortium quinque pedaturae inferioris). It was destroyed during the Hun's invasions in the 5th century and rebuilt under Justinian I along with the monumental reconstruction of the Danubian limes.

The town was abandoned by the first half of the 7th century after the Avars-Slavs' attacks and the downfall of Danubian limes.{{cite journal |last=Stănică |first=Aurel |title=Tulcea. Un centru economic la Dunărea de Jos în secolul al XVI-lea |year=2004 |journal=Peuce |publisher=Institutul de Cercetări Eco-Muzeale |volume=II(XV) |series=S.N. |issn=0258-8102 |location=Tulcea |page=199}} The town is mentioned in Notitia Episcopatuum and De Thematibus on the list of the bishoprics of Dobrudja.

Inhabitation was restored in the second half of the 10th century, as the Byzantines built a fort on the spot after reconquering the region. The fort was soon destroyed in 1064 by an attack of the Uzes, however some inhabitation continued. A settlement, larger than the one in the 11th century, is archaeologically attested beginning with the 14th century. The Ottoman rule was imposed around 1420, and would last for the following four centuries.

The town was first documented under its modern name in 1506 in the Ottoman customs records, described as an "important centre for the transit trade".

Around 1848, it was still a small shipyard city, being awarded city status in 1860, when it became a province capital. It became a sanjak centre in Silistre Eyaleti in 1860 and Tuna Vilayeti in 1864.

In 1853, The Times of London noted that "Toultcha" was "the last fortified place held by the Turks on the Danube, and which has a garrison of 1,200 men."{{Cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1853-12-29-08-004&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1853-12-29-08 |title="The Seat of War on the Danube", The Times, December 29, page 8 |access-date=February 17, 2014 |archive-date=January 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116061605/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Northern Dobruja and specially Tulcea would be the sites of massacres and conflicts between Muslim Circassians and Christian Bulgarians, Russians, and Ukrainians. The Circassians of Dobruja had settled there in 1864 after the Circassian genocide, and through their raids to other peoples of the region and handing over part of their gains to the Ottoman authorities, they would end up indirectly financing the construction of buildings that still stand in Tulcea today: the modern Tulcea Art Museum and the Azizyie Mosque. The Dobrujan Circassians were expelled from the region after the end of the war.{{cite news |url=https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/articol/povestea-dramatica-a-cerchezilor-din-dobrogea |title=Povestea dramatică a cerchezilor din Dobrogea |first=Diana |last=Tița |magazine=Historia |date=September 16, 2018 |language=ro |access-date=August 12, 2021 |archive-date=April 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415011025/https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/articol/povestea-dramatica-a-cerchezilor-din-dobrogea |url-status=live }}

In 1878, after the end of the war, Tulcea was awarded to Romania, together with the rest of Northern Dobruja (see Congress of Berlin). Tulcea was occupied by the Central Powers between 1916–1918 during World War I, and became part of their condominium following the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918 (until November 1918). During that time, the statue of Mircea the Elder was taken down by Bulgarian troops, since it was during his reign that Dobruja was incorporated into Wallachia.{{cite news |url=https://romania.europalibera.org/a/stergerea-memoriei-sau-rescrierea-istoriei-cand-a-daramat-romania-prima-statuie/30665862.html |title=Ștergerea memoriei sau rescrierea istoriei. Când a dărâmat România prima statuie |language=ro |first=Sabina |last=Fati |newspaper=Europa Liberă România |publisher=Radio Free Europe |date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=July 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611213109/https://romania.europalibera.org/a/stergerea-memoriei-sau-rescrierea-istoriei-cand-a-daramat-romania-prima-statuie/30665862.html |url-status=live }}

Tulcea's climate is transitional between continental and temperate (Köppen: Dfa/Cfa),{{Cite journal |title=Table 1 Overview of the Köppen-Geiger climate classes including the defining criteria. |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02549-6/tables/1 |journal=Nature: Scientific Data |language=en |access-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105151210/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02549-6/tables/1 |url-status=live }} with cold winters and hot summers. Daily minimum temperatures drop below {{cvt|0|C|F}} for roughly 79.5 days per year from October to April, with 17.2 days where the daily maximum temperature is also below {{cvt|0|C|F}}. Snow cover, on average, is observed for 27.6 days per year.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| collapsed = yes

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Tulcea (1991–2020)

| Jan record high C = 18.8

| Feb record high C = 23.5

| Mar record high C = 28.6

| Apr record high C = 31.1

| May record high C = 36.1

| Jun record high C = 36.3

| Jul record high C = 39.9

| Aug record high C = 39.8

| Sep record high C = 34.7

| Oct record high C = 32.0

| Nov record high C = 25.7

| Dec record high C = 19.4

| year record high C = 39.9

| Jan high C = 3.9

| Feb high C = 6.2

| Mar high C = 11.1

| Apr high C = 17.2

| May high C = 23.2

| Jun high C = 27.5

| Jul high C = 29.7

| Aug high C = 29.6

| Sep high C = 24.1

| Oct high C = 17.8

| Nov high C = 11.2

| Dec high C = 5.5

| year high C = 17.2

| Jan mean C = 0.0

| Feb mean C = 1.6

| Mar mean C = 5.8

| Apr mean C = 11.4

| May mean C = 17.3

| Jun mean C = 21.7

| Jul mean C = 23.7

| Aug mean C = 23.1

| Sep mean C = 17.7

| Oct mean C = 12.0

| Nov mean C = 6.7

| Dec mean C = 1.7

| year mean C = 11.9

| Jan low C = -3.3

| Feb low C = -2.0

| Mar low C = 1.6

| Apr low C = 6.3

| May low C = 11.6

| Jun low C = 15.7

| Jul low C = 17.6

| Aug low C = 16.9

| Sep low C = 12.2

| Oct low C = 7.4

| Nov low C = 3.1

| Dec low C = -1.6

| year low C = 7.1

| Jan record low C = -18.9

| Feb record low C = -15.9

| Mar record low C = -5.0

| Apr record low C = 0.8

| May record low C = 4.6

| Jun record low C = 9.6

| Jul record low C = 8.1

| Aug record low C = 0.6

| Sep record low C = -7.6

| Oct record low C = -13.4

| Nov record low C = -20.7

| Dec record low C = -20.9

| year record low C = -20.9

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 35.3

| Feb precipitation mm = 26.6

| Mar precipitation mm = 33.3

| Apr precipitation mm = 36.4

| May precipitation mm = 43.7

| Jun precipitation mm = 57.2

| Jul precipitation mm = 58.0

| Aug precipitation mm = 31.5

| Sep precipitation mm = 44.8

| Oct precipitation mm = 44.3

| Nov precipitation mm = 41.2

| Dec precipitation mm = 41.9

| year precipitation mm = 494.2

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 4.9

| Feb precipitation days = 5.0

| Mar precipitation days = 5.4

| Apr precipitation days = 5.9

| May precipitation days = 6.3

| Jun precipitation days = 6.0

| Jul precipitation days = 5.4

| Aug precipitation days = 3.6

| Sep precipitation days = 4.3

| Oct precipitation days = 4.5

| Nov precipitation days = 4.7

| Dec precipitation days = 6.1

| year precipitation days = 62.1

| Jan sun = 80.9

| Feb sun = 111.5

| Mar sun = 159.2

| Apr sun = 212.3

| May sun = 280.4

| Jun sun = 306.7

| Jul sun = 339.7

| Aug sun = 314.3

| Sep sun = 232.0

| Oct sun = 163.9

| Nov sun = 92.8

| Dec sun = 77.1

| year sun = 2370.8

| source = NOAA{{cite web |url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Romania/CSV/Tulcea_15335.csv |title=World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Tulcea |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112051719/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Romania/CSV/Tulcea_15335.csv |url-status=live }}

}}

At the 2021 census Tulcea had a population of 65,624 with a majority of Romanians (74.83%) with minorities of Lipovans (1.9%), Roma (1.57%), Turks (0.67%), Ukrainians (0.42%), Greeks (0.27%), Bulgarians (0.03%), others (0.38%) and unknown (19.93%).

At the 2011 census Tulcea had a population of 73,707 with a majority of Romanians (83.37%) with minorities of Lipovans (2.36%), Roma (1.29%), Turks (1.11%), Ukrainians (0.51%), Greeks (0.28%), Bulgarians (0.02%), others (0.53%) and unknown (10.53%).

Most of the indigenous Bulgarians left the city after the Treaty of Craiova.

{{Historical populations

|align=left

|source = Census data

|1912 |21727

|1930 |20403

|1948 |21642

|1956 |24639

|1966 |35561

|1977 |61729

|1992 |97904

|2002 |92762

|2011 |73707

|2021 |65624

}}

{{clear left}}

Tulcea is the site of the "George Georgescu Contest", a music competition created by teachers at the Tulcea Arts High School and held annually since 1992. Named in honor of the conductor George Georgescu (1887–1964), an important figure in the development of Romanian classical music who was born in the Tulcea county, the contest was at first open only to Romanian music school and high school students but began admitting international students in 1995. Organizers include the Romanian Ministry of Education and Youth, the Education Board of Tulcea County, the Tulcea County Council, the Tulcea Mayoralty, and surviving members of Georgescu's family.[http://www.concursulgeorgegeorgescu.ro/istoricen.html Historical notes of Concursul George Georgescu 2008 International Contest for Performing Artists, Tulcea, Romania accessed March 29, 2009] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006223728/http://www.concursulgeorgegeorgescu.ro/istoricen.html |date=October 6, 2011 }}

File:Puerto de Tulcea, Rumanía, 2016-05-28, DD 42.jpg

File:Tulcea-19thcentury-BGRod.png

The Monument of Independence represents one of the main attractions of the city, because of its placement and of the panoramic view that it offers. It is located on the same hill as the ruins of Aegyssus and the history museum. The monument itself is represented by an obelisk with a statue of an eagle on one side and the statue of a soldier on the other. The monument was erected to commemorate the War of Independence that made Dobruja part of Romania. Construction began on October 17, 1879, in the presence of Prince Carol I of Romania.{{cite web |url=https://www.info-delta.ro/vestigii-istorice-39/monumentul-independentei---tulcea-94.html |title=Monumentul Independenței – Tulcea |language=ro |date=November 3, 2008 |access-date=May 31, 2020 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308081956/https://www.info-delta.ro/vestigii-istorice-39/monumentul-independentei---tulcea-94.html |url-status=dead }}

File:The Monument at night.jpg

File:View from the monument hill Tulcea.jpg

The main high school is the Spiru Haret Dobrujan College.

• Crin Antonescu (born 1959), former President of the Senate of Romania and acting President of Romania in 2012
• Georges Boulanger (1893–1958), violinist
• Alexandru Ciucurencu (1903–1977), painter
• Stefan Karadzha (1840–1868), Bulgarian revolutionary, studied in Tulcea and is associated with the town
• Grigore Moisil (1906–1973), mathematician
• Dimitar Petkov (1858–1907), Bulgarian Prime Minister
• Mirela Roznoveanu (born 1947), literary critic, writer, and journalist
• Valentin Serbu (1934–1994), writer
• Tora Vasilescu (born 1951), actress

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania}}

Tulcea is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Strategia de dezvoltare a municipiului Tulcea 2014–2020 |url=https://www.primariatulcea.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Strategia_Dezv_Tulcea_FINAL.pdf |website=primariatulcea.ro |publisher=Tulcea |page=89 |language=ro |access-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112204004/https://www.primariatulcea.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Strategia_Dezv_Tulcea_FINAL.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• {{flagicon|DEN}} Aalborg, Denmark
• {{flagicon|NED}} Altena, Netherlands
• {{flagicon|TUR}} Amasya, Turkey
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Aprilia, Italy
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Fratta Polesine, Italy
• {{flagicon|GRC}} Ilion, Greece
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Izmail, Ukraine
• {{flagicon|CYP}} Larnaca, Cyprus
• {{flagicon|TUR}} Mudanya, Turkey
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Rovigo, Italy
• {{flagicon|BUL}} Shumen, Bulgaria

{{div col end}}

Notes

{{Reflist|2}}

Bibliography

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

{{Commons category|Tulcea}}

• [http://www.primaria-tulcea.ro/ Tulcea City Hall]

{{Tulcea County}}

{{RoJudCapitals}}

{{Danube}}

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Category:Populated places established in the 7th century BC

Category:Byzantine sites in Romania

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Category:Localities in Northern Dobruja

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