Nufăru and the Proslavița Fortress

Going down of the Sfântu Gheorghe channel, the first village you’ll see is Nufăru. It lies exactly at the point where the Danube makes a sudden left turn to avoid a rocky hill.

[adsense]One of the most important things the you’ll find in Nufăru is the medieval fortress.

While doing the excavations here, archeologists discovered the ruins of the city of Periaslavetz (Proslavița, Pereyaslavets or Preslavetz). What the name meant was “little Preslav” in reference to the Bulgarian capital in the tenth century a.d..

Maybe it’s no surprise then that the village of Nufăru was also known as Prislav until 1968.

The city was actually built by the Byzantines, but was taken over by the Bulgarians when they started their expansion north.

Here’s a view of the Danube from the cliff the main part of the fortress was located.

The Bulgarians and the Kievan Rus’

The Bulgarians were actually making the law around these places back in the day and Peryaslavetz was a thriving commercial center, controlling most of the traffic here at the Danube’s mouth.

[adsense]What I found most fascinating was the fact when the Kievan Rus were finally fed up with them, they conquered most of the Bulgarian territory, including their capital. Then, they settled their own capital here, in Peryslavetz, in 968. Can you imagine that?

When the Sviatoslav Kniaz conquered the city in 958, he described it as a major commercial center at the crossroads of many routes bringing in goods from Greece, Russia, Hungary and Bohemia.

Unfortunately for him, it only lasted for about three years because the Byzantines also had some unfinished business here and conquered the whole place back in 971. It is possible that they renamed the city as Theodoropolis, in honor of one of the generals who took place in the final battle.

The city was completely destroyed in 1241 when the place was invaded by the tartars.

The excavations led to various discoveries throughout the Nufăru. On that main hill they’ve uncovered two towers. Close to the modern Danube crossing point, they’ve discovered the port of the ancient city.