This article is about the Bulgarian city. For the Ottoman eyalet, seeSilistra Eyalet. For the province in Bulgaria, seeSilistra Province. For the municipality within the Silistra province, seeSilistra Municipality.
Silistra is a major cultural, industrial, transportation, and educational center of Northeastern Bulgaria. There are many historical landmarks including arichly-decorated Late Roman tomb, remains of the medieval fortress, anOttoman fort, and an art gallery.
After the Roman province ofMoesia was founded in 12 AD, theRomans built a fort in 29 on the site of an earlierThracian settlement and kept its name,Durostorum (orDorostorum). During the reigns ofClaudius (41-54 AD) and Nero (54-68), the eastern border of Moesia was extended to the mouth of the river Iatrus (the modern Yantra).[6] Durostorum was one of several important river points along theMoesian Limes frontier. AfterTrajan's Dacian Wars the fort was enlarged into a legionary fortress for theLegio XI Claudia who stayed there from before 114 until c. 400.[7] It became an important military centre of the Roman province ofMoesia, and grew into a city at the time ofMarcus Aurelius. The city was strongly affected by an invasion of theCostoboci in 170.
Large thermal baths have been discovered in thecanabae and residential buildings to the south. There were six periods of construction between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD.
When the Roman Empire split into theEastern andWestern empires, the town became part of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Durostorum became the seat of a Christian bishopric and a centre of Christianity in the region. The earliest saints of Bulgaria are Roman soldiers executed at Durostorum during theDiocletian Persecution (303–313), includingSt. Dasius andSt. Julius the Veteran.Auxentius was expelled from Durostorum by an edict of Theodosius depriving Arian bishops in 383, and took refuge at Milan where he became embroiled in controversy with StAmbrose.[8] The Roman generalFlavius Aëtius was born in the town in 396.
As part of theBulgarian Empire Durostolon was known asDrastar in medieval times.
The fort of SilistraSilistra Historical MuseumDunavska Gradina Park
Around the end of the 7th century, the town was incorporated into theFirst Bulgarian Empire and the bishop ofDrastar (Дръстър in Bulgarian) was proclaimed the firstpatriarch of Bulgaria. In 895 (during theBulgarian-Hungarian War of 894–896), the Hungarians, allies of the Byzantines, besieged the Bulgarian army under the personal command ofSimeon I the Great in the fortress of the town but were repulsed.[9] The next year the Hungarians were decisively defeated in thebattle of Southern Buh.
In 1279, under EmperorIvailo, Drastar was attacked by theMongols; but after a three-month-long siege the Bulgarians managed to break through.[11] The town remained part of the Bulgarian Empire until theOttoman conquest of the Balkans around 1400. Throughout the Middle Ages, Drastar (possibly known by the name Silistra too) was among Bulgaria's largest and most important cities.
DuringOttoman rule, Silistra (Ottoman Turkish:Silistre) was part ofRumelia Province and was the administrative centre of the Silistra district (sanjak). This district was later upgraded to become theSilistra Province and stretched over most of the westernBlack Sealittoral. In 1570 (Hijri 977) the town of Silistra was inhabited by Muslims and Christians. It had 447 Muslim households in 20 neighbourhoods and 633 Non-muslim households in 15 neighbourhoods. The defter also recorded that there was a Jewish and a Christian Romani congregation.[12]
The town was captured and recaptured byRussian forces numerous times during severalRusso-Turkish Wars and was besieged between 14 April and 23 June 1854 during theCrimean War.Namık Kemal wrote his most famous play,Vatan Yahut Silistre ("Homeland or Silistre"), a drama about thesiege of Silistra (Silistria), in which he expounded on the ideas of patriotism and liberalism. The play was first staged on 1 April 1873 and led to his exile toFamagusta.
The Ottoman Silistra Province was reduced in size, as the districts ofÖzi andHocabey and the region ofBessarabia were ceded to the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Edirne Province was created from its southern regions in 1830. Finally, Silistra Province merged with the provinces ofVidin andNiš in 1864 to formDanube Province. Silistra was downgraded to akaza centre inRuse district in this province in the same year.
Between 1819 and 1826,Eliezer Papo — a renownedJewish scholar — was therabbi of the community of Silistra, making this town famous among observant Jews. Up to the present, his grave is a focus ofpilgrimage, some pilgrims flying fromIsrael and even fromLatin America to Bulgaria for that purpose.[13]
In 1878, following theRusso-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Silistra was included in Bulgaria.Romania was opposed to this as it wanted to acquire the city and established the short-livedSilistra Nouă County, which was abolished a year later.
In May 1913, following theSecond Balkan War and after unsuccessful Bulgarian-Romanian negotiations inLondon, the two countries accepted the mediation of theGreat Powers, who awarded Silistra and the area in a 3 km radius around it to Romania at theSaint Petersburg Conference. The 1913Treaty of Bucharest ceded Silistra and the whole ofSouthern Dobruja toRomania. Bulgaria regained the town from 1916 duringWorld War I. This became finalised with theTreaty of Bucharest in 1918 after Romania surrendered to theCentral Powers (of which Bulgaria was a part). TheTreaty of Neuilly (1919) followingWorld War I returned it to Romania. Silistra remained a part of Romania until theAxis-sponsoredTreaty of Craiova in 1940, when the town once again became part of Bulgaria, a transfer confirmed by theParis Peace Treaties in 1947. Between 1913 and 1938, Silistra was the capital ofDurostor County (except during Bulgarian rule). It became part ofȚinutul Mării ("Sea District") between 1938 and 1940 during Romanian rule. Following the establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Silistra developed as a center of industry and agriculture in the region, comparable to Ruse (because of the strategic position on the Danube) and Dobrich (due to the abundant fertile lands). This led to a major population increase which continued until 1985. After that, the population slowly started to decrease. Following the collapse of the People's Republic in 1989, many of its inhabitants migrated to other parts of the country or emigrated outside Bulgaria.
In January 2012, Silistra was inhabited by 35,230 people within the city limits, while theSilistra Municipality along with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 50,780 inhabitants.[14] The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1986–1991, when it exceeded 70,000.[15] The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[15][16] citypopulation.de,[17] pop-stat.mashke.org,[18] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[19] ^ a. Population in 1930: 17,415[20]
^Lendering, Jona (26 May 2017). "Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis". Livius.org
^Mark O'Sullivan,The Social and Political Influence of Saint Ambrose as Reflected in his Letters, B.Phil thesis, Liverpool University, 1976.
^Andreev, J.The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (Balgarskite hanove i tsare,Българските ханове и царе), Veliko Tarnovo, 1996, p. 95,ISBN954-427-216-X
^Rogers, Clifford J. (2010)."Dristra, Battle of".The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press. p. 549.ISBN978-0-19-533403-6.
^Andreev, J.The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (Balgarskite hanove i tsare,Българските ханове и царе), Veliko Tarnovo, 1996, p. 226,ISBN954-427-216-X
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