- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1538 · 16th century
- Location
- Bender, Moldova
- Coordinates
- 46.8376°, 29.4851°
History
In the 15th century Tighina, at a crossing of the Dniester, was a Moldavian customs post and guard station protected by a timber-and-earth fort. In 1538 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seized it, renamed the town Bender and ordered a stone fortress built in its place, traditionally attributed to his court architect Sinan; work was finished in 1541. During the 17th and early 18th centuries the fortress was repeatedly modernised and surrounded by bastions. The Russians took it twice in the 18th century – in 1770 after a bloody siege and in 1789 under Potemkin – and in 1812 it passed with Bessarabia to the Russian Empire. It remained in military use into the Soviet period; since 1992 the town and fortress have been controlled by the Transnistrian authorities, who restored it between 2008 and 2012.
What to see
The fortress is ringed by a deep dry moat and earthen bastions, and above the Dniester rises a stone citadel with round and square towers. Visitors walk the walls and gates and see exhibitions on its history inside the towers, while the rebuilt church of St Alexander Nevsky stands in front of it. Near the fortress is a monument to Baron Munchausen riding a cannonball.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1968281
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