Enisala Fortress
Enisala, Tulcea County · Dobruja
About Enisala Fortress
Enisala Fortress stands on a rocky limestone hill at the edge of the village of the same name, looking down over lakes Razim and Babadag. It was built in the second half of the 14th century, most probably by Genoese merchants, who then controlled shipping on the Black Sea: at the time Razim was still a bay open to the sea, and the fortress watched over the routes by water and by land near the mouths of the Danube. Its custodian, the Eco-Museum Research Institute in Tulcea, calls it the Medieval Fortress of Enisala; older sources name it Yeni-Sale or Heracleea.
Under Mircea the Elder the fortress became part of Wallachia's defences, and after the Ottoman conquest of Dobruja in the early 15th century it received a Turkish garrison. By the end of that century it had lost its purpose: the Ottoman frontier had moved north of the Danube mouths, and the sandbars that gradually closed off Razim cut it off from the sea. The fortress was abandoned and slowly fell into ruin.
The walls follow an irregular polygonal plan that traces the outline of the rock, and in places still stand 5–10 m high. Excavations, begun in 1938 and resumed in several stages until the late 1990s, have turned up Byzantine, Genoese, Tatar, Wallachian, Moldavian and Ottoman coins.
What you can see
From the car park at the foot of the hill you walk a few hundred metres up a tarmac road and then metal steps to the gate. You enter through the great gate tower, trapezoidal in plan, with its double arch and a slot in the masonry through which defenders could strike from above. The enclosure is lined with corner towers and buttresses linked by curtain walls; inside, the only surviving stone building is the garrison's water cistern, set against the south-eastern wall.
Most of the visit, though, is about the view: from the walls you can see Lake Razim stretching into the distance, Lake Babadag, Enisala village and the hills of northern Dobruja. On the slopes you can still make out traces of a second enclosure, surviving only at foundation level.
Good to know
The hill is completely exposed: there is no shade in summer, so bring water and a hat and, if you can, come in the morning or towards evening. The peasant farmstead in Enisala village, the museum's other site in the area, is closed for restoration works. Every August the "Enisala – Unity at the Fortress" festival is held at the foot of the fortress.
- The gate tower, with its double arch and the slot through which the entrance was defended from above.
- The view from the walls over Lake Razim, which in the Middle Ages was still a bay of the Black Sea.
- The garrison's water cistern, the only stone building surviving inside the enclosure.
- The fortress silhouetted on the rocky ridge, seen from the access road, especially at sunset.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: from Tulcea take the E87 towards Babadag, then the DJ 223A towards Enisala; it is ~40 km, about 45 minutes. It is ~12 km from Babadag (~15 minutes), ~105 km from Constanța (~1 hour 40 minutes) and ~315 km from Bucharest (~4 hours, via the A2 and E87). The fortress is ~2 km from the village and can be seen from afar on the ridge.
Public transport: the nearest railway station is Babadag, on the Medgidia–Tulcea line, ~12 km away; from there, continue by taxi. We found no public transport link to the fortress itself.
- Where to park
The car park is at the foot of the hill, next to the toilets; from there it is a walk of a few hundred metres up a tarmac road and then metal steps to the fortress entrance.
- Fees & discounts
Adults 20 lei, seniors 10 lei, pre-schoolers, pupils and students 5 lei. There is also a combined ticket with the Enisala peasant farmstead (adults 24 lei, seniors 10 lei, pre-schoolers, pupils and students 6 lei), but the farmstead is currently closed for restoration. Professional photography costs 100 lei/hour and professional filming 500 lei/hour.
- Rules
Professional photo shoots and filming are charged separately (see the prices). The ground inside the enclosure and on the hill is rocky and uneven: wear comfortable shoes and keep an eye on children.
- Facilities
Toilets at the car park at the foot of the hill · information panels in the fortress · virtual tour on the ICEM website
Reviews
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