TIGHINA/BENDER FORTRESS

The fortress dates from the reigns of Stefan cel Mare and Petru Rares. In 1538, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent took the fortress because Petru Rares refused to pay an annual tribute to the Ottomans. It was modified by the architect Sinan who gave it an irregular rectangular plan surrounded by a deep ditch, the corners of which are created by square towers and an octagonal tower. It became the residence of the Pasha and the Turkish garrison. The peasants of the region were mobilised for the works, which were completed in 1541. In the summer of 1574 and in 1595, Ion Voda tried to retake the place. In 1600, Mihai the Brave attacked it twice. From 1705 to 1707 Dimitrie Cantemir enlarged the fortress (ten bastions and eleven towers, traditionally surrounded by a protective moat). The fortress was attacked by Russian troops in 1770, 1789 and 1806. In 1812 Russia annexed Bessarabia and took the fortress.

The visit begins with the ramparts and the inner courtyard known as "des Canons" and ends with the museum (where uniforms, maps, weapons, models, etc. are on display). According to legend, the Baron of Münchhausen, then in the service of the Tsar, escaped from the fortress in 1744 on a cannonball. A series of busts recall the personalities of the place, generals of the Russian army, Ukrainian poet Ivan Kotliarevski, King Charles XII of Sweden. It was at Bendery that Pylyp Orlyk, an ally of Sweden and Poland, drafted a Ukrainian Constitution in 1710.