Transnistria - Some pictures of a short visit on a rainy day.

Fortress of Tighina (Bender).

The first traces of a settlement on the site of the present city Tighina (Bender) dates from 1st-2nd centuries AD, during the Dacians. Subsequently, mentions about a city appear in the early Middle Ages, the shoal from Tighina being protected by a fortress from the 9th-11th centuries. During Cuman domination (11th-13th centuries), the city is already named Tighina (in Cuman language means "pass"). The city was first mentioned as an important customs post in a commerce grant issued by the Moldavian voivode Alexandru cel Bun to
the merchants of Lviv in 1408. Later, Ştefan cel Mare builts a fortress of earth and wood (a palanca), conquered by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538. The Ottomans rename the city Bender, meaning "transient enhanced", and build here, within a year, under the supervision of the architect Koji Mimar Sinan, a fortress of stone.
Fortress resist several attacks over the centuries (the fort's area was expanded and modernized by the prince of Moldavia Antioh Cantemir) and only during the Russo-Turkish wars of the late 18th century it is conquered and reconquered several times until it is permanently occupied by the Russians in 1812. In 1713 there was the site of skirmishes (kalabalik) between Charles XII of Sweden, who had taken refuge there with the Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa after his defeat in the Battle of Poltava, and Turks who wished to enforce the departure of the Swedish king.
After 1812, the city shares the history of Bessarabia, about which i wrote here. Tighina was part of the Moldavian Democratic Republic in 1917-1918, and after 1918 the city belonged to Romania. Along with Bessarabia, the city was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, but in in 1941 was retaken by Romania, and again by the USSR in 1944. Since 1991, the city has been part of the independent Republic of Moldova.
The fortress, rectangular and with six towers, is situated on the western bank of the river Dniester, the highest one, and is surrounded by three rows of walls. To enter in it, after climb a hill and pass the outer defense wall, have to cross a footbridge over a deep defensive ditch, formerly filled with water.
After a while, the defenders saw that the ditch without water is more difficult to past, so it has not been ever filled. Under the fortress lies a vast network of tunnels which leading to the city, where the soldiers quartered in recent years have found many artifacts, but they also have lost, one of them being found after three days.
Due to the city's key strategic location, Bender saw the heaviest fighting of the War of Transnistria. Since 1992, Bender has been formally in the demilitarized zone established at the end of the conflict, but is de facto controlled by Transnistrian authorities. Some of the former outbuildings of the fortress were used as barracks for the 14th Army and now is used for training the Transnistrian army recruits. Only fortress itself was released for tourists.

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Transnistria - Some pictures of a short visit on a rainy day.

Transnistria (also called Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria) is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), a state with limited recognition, which claims the territory to the east of the River Dniester, the city of Bender, and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognise the PMR and considers most of the territory of Transnistria as part of Moldova, as the Autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria (Unitatea teritorială autonomă cu statut juridic special Transnistria), or Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester"). After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway unrecognised state escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July 1992. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: while internationally unrecognised, Transnistria is, in effect, an independent state, organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, and currency. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and a coat of arms. However, following a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies seeking to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities. This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) started its activity in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but there are also many Transnistrians with Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia".Transnistria is a post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone, together with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia These four unrecognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

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Transnistria - Some pictures of a short visit on a rainy day.

Statue of Lenin.

Transnistria (also called Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria) is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), a state with limited recognition, which claims the territory to the east of the River Dniester, the city of Bender, and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognise the PMR and considers most of the territory of Transnistria as part of Moldova, as the Autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria (Unitatea teritorială autonomă cu statut juridic special Transnistria), or Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester"). After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway unrecognised state escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July 1992. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: while internationally unrecognised, Transnistria is, in effect, an independent state, organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, and currency. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and a coat of arms. However, following a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies seeking to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities. This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) started its activity in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but there are also many Transnistrians with Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia".Transnistria is a post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone, together with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia These four unrecognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

Tags:   transnistria transdniestr tiraspol image photo travel

© All Rights Reserved

Transnistria - Some pictures of a short visit on a rainy day.

Transnistria (also called Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria) is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), a state with limited recognition, which claims the territory to the east of the River Dniester, the city of Bender, and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognise the PMR and considers most of the territory of Transnistria as part of Moldova, as the Autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria (Unitatea teritorială autonomă cu statut juridic special Transnistria), or Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester"). After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway unrecognised state escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July 1992. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: while internationally unrecognised, Transnistria is, in effect, an independent state, organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, and currency. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and a coat of arms. However, following a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies seeking to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities. This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) started its activity in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but there are also many Transnistrians with Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia".Transnistria is a post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone, together with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia These four unrecognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

Tags:   transnistria transdniestr tiraspol image photo travel

© All Rights Reserved

Transnistria - Some pictures of a short visit on a rainy day.

Transnistria (also called Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria) is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), a state with limited recognition, which claims the territory to the east of the River Dniester, the city of Bender, and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognise the PMR and considers most of the territory of Transnistria as part of Moldova, as the Autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria (Unitatea teritorială autonomă cu statut juridic special Transnistria), or Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester"). After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway unrecognised state escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July 1992. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: while internationally unrecognised, Transnistria is, in effect, an independent state, organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, and currency. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and a coat of arms. However, following a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies seeking to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities. This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) started its activity in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but there are also many Transnistrians with Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia".Transnistria is a post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone, together with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia These four unrecognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

Tags:   transnistria transdniestr tiraspol image photo travel

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