Pages: 413

Belgorod Fortress on the Dniester River (Belgorod-Dniestrovsk, Ukraine) is one of the best known and yet mysterious sites of medieval fortification. The author of this monograph uses all existing documentary sources on the history of this fortress as well as many years of his own historical and architectural field studies on the fortress’s walls and towers. Thus he revealed seven main stages in its construction history: from building of the old castle (Citadel) in 1420s to the Ottoman reconstruction of the fortress in late 18 c., which substantially reshaped it. 

The monograph will be read with interest by specialists in history of architecture, archaeologists, medievalists, enthusiasts of local history and other readers.

editor
V. Kirilko, doctor of history

reviewers:
N. Russev, doctor habilitat of history
I. Vozniy, doctor of history

CONTENTS

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
To the reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER I. Sources and historiography

I.1. Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

I.1.1. Written sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
I.1.2. Iconography and drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
I.1.3. Epigraphic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
I.1.4. Archaeological sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
I.1.5. Topography of the ancient Tyra in relation to the ensemble of the Belgorod Fortress . . . 100
I.1.6. Main findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

I.2. History of periodization of construction works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

I.2.1. Architectural studies of 1930—1960. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
I.2.2. Historical and architectural studies of 1998—2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
I.2.3. Architectural studies of 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
I.2.4. Historical and architectural studies of 2007—2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
I.2.5. Main findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

CHAPTER II. Periodization of construction works in the Citadel

II.1. Architectural study of the Citadel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

II.1.1. Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
II.1.2. Court and curtains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
II.1.3. Main findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

II.2. Dating of the Citadel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

II.2.1 Artillery as a dating indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
II.2.2. Searching for the earliest date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
II.2.3. Searching for the latest date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 

CHAPTER III. Periodization of construction works in the Fortress

III.1. Architectural study of the Fortress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 

III.1.1. Moat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
III.1.2. Peribolos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
III.1.3. Trade Court and port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
III.1.4. Military Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
III.1.5. Main findings (Military Court). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
III.1.6. Civil Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
III.1.7. Main findings (Civil Court) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
III.1.8. Graphic study of the Fortress plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
III.1.9. Construction works. Estimate of labor costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

III.2. Relative chronology of the Fortress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

III.3. Absolute dates of the Fortress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353  

III.3.1. “The Time of Troubles” (1430—1440) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
III.3.2. Timir Kay’s squadron campaign (1454) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
III.3.3. Mehmed II’s campaigns (1475—1476) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
III.3.4. Taking of Belgorod by Bayazid II (1484) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
III.3.5. Modernization of the Fortress in later period of the Ottoman Rule. . . 369

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .392
Резюме . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .400
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403
Rezumat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .406
Özet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409