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Tulcea (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtult͡ʃe̯a]; Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian: Тулча, Tulcha; Greek: Aegyssus, Turkish: Hora-Tepé or Tolçu) is a city in Dobrogea, Romania. It is the administrative center of the Tulcea county, and has a population of 91,875 as of 2002.
[edit] History
Tulcea was founded in the 7th century BC[citation needed] under the name of Aegyssus, mentioned in the documents of Diodorus of Sicily (3rd century BC). Ovid referred to it in Ex Ponto, saying that its name would have originated with that of its founder, a Dacian named Carpyus Aegyssus.
After the fights from 12-15 B.C., the Romans conquered the town. They rebuilt it after their plans, their technique and architectural vision, reorganizing it. The existing ruined walls and defending towers serve as a testimony of this. Also an inscription found at the Tulcea Museum of Archaeology mentions the name Aegyssus for the town. The Aegyssus fortified town is mentioned also by other documents until the 10th century: Notitia Episcopatum in political geography "De Thematicus".
Tulcea at the end of the 19th century
It was then ruled by the Byzantine Empire (5th - 7th century), the Bulgarian Empire (681-c.1000; 1185-14th century) [2] [3] [4] [5], the Genoese (10th - 13th century), it was part of the local Dobrujan polities of Balik/Balica, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici, and, for a brief while after 1390, ruled by the Wallachian Prince Mircea cel Bătrân.
In 1416 it was conquered and ruled for 460 years by the Ottoman Empire.
In the 17th century Tulcea was mentioned by the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi as a settlement with 600 houses, inhabited by Vlachs[6].
Around 1848, it was still a small shipyard city, being awarded city status in 1860, when it became a province capital.
In 1878 Tulcea was eventually awarded to Romania, together with the Northern Dobruja (see Congress of Berlin).
Today, Tulcea is the site of the Concursul George Georgescu, a music competition created by teachers at the Tulcea Arts High School and held annually since 1992. Named in honor of conductor George Georgescu (1887-1964), an important figure in the development of Romanian classical music who was born in the surrounding county, it 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 School Inspectorate of Tulcea County, the Tulcea County Council, the Tulcea Mayoralty, and surviving members of Georgescu's family.[7]
[edit] Demographics
According to the 2002 census, Tulcea has a population of 91,875 inhabitants, 91.3% of which are ethnic Romanian. Significant minority groups include Lippovan Russians (making up 2.78% of the total population), and Turks (1.4%). Most of the indigenous Bulgarians left the town in 1941 in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova.
| Ethnicity |
2002[8] |
| All |
91,875 |
| Romanian |
83,919 (91.34%) |
| Lippovan Russians |
2,560 (2.78%) |
| Turks |
1,274 (1.39%) |
| Roma/Gypsy |
1,260 (1.37%) |
| Aromanians |
813 (0.885%) |
| Ukrainians |
615 (0.669%) |
| Russians |
569 (0.619%) |
| Greeks |
412 (0.448%) |
| Others |
453 (0.493%) |
- Crin Antonescu, deputy
- Georges Boulanger, violinist
- Alexandru Ciucurencu, painter
- Traian Cosovei, writer
- Radu Gheorghe, actor
- Virginia Mirea, actress
- Grigore Moisil, mathematician
- Dimitar Petkov, Bulgarian Prime Minister
- Lili Sandu, singer and actress
- Tora Vasilescu, actress
- Ivan Patzaichin, flatwater canoer
- Anca Vasile, violinist link title==Famous natives==
[edit] Famous inhabitants
- Stefan Karadzha, Bulgarian revolutionary, studied in Tulcea and is associated with the town
- Oliver Cadogan, Irish Tycoon, married a beor from the area
[edit] Twinned Towns
[edit] References
- ^ National Institute of Statistics, Population of Tulcea County and its cities on July 1, 2007
- ^ Theophanes, ibid., p.357-358
- ^ Nicephorus, ibid., p.34
- ^ Laiou, A. E. Constantinople and the Latins (Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328). Cambridge, Mass., 1972.
- ^ Brătianu, G. I. à Cetatea Albă (Akkerman) au debut du XIVeme siècle-Byz, 2, 1926, 153-168
- ^ (Romanian) Tulcea City Hall, Town history, accessed on June 7, 2008
- ^ Historical notes of Concursul George Georgescu 2008 International Contest for Performing Artists, Tulcea, Romania accessed March 29, 2009
- ^ Tulcea's population
[edit] External links
[edit] Sources and references
- Theophanes, ibid., p.357-358
- Nicephorus, ibid., p.34
- Laiou, A. E. Constantinople and the Latins (Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328). Cambridge, Mass., 1972.
- Brătianu, G. I. Les Bulgares à Cetatea Albă (Akkerman) au debut du XIVeme siècle-Byz, 2, 1926, 153-168
Romania
