Cetatea Enisala

History

Byzantine builders raised Enisala in the 13th–14th century on a hilltop with clear sightlines over Razim and Babadag lakes, back when Razim was still a saltwater gulf of the Black Sea rather than the freshwater lagoon it later became — a position that let its garrison track both land roads and water traffic below. It later fell under the control of Wallachian prince Mircea the Elder before the Ottomans took it in 1418 and stationed their own garrison inside. By the time Russian forces swept through Dobrogea in later centuries demolishing the region's fortresses, Enisala had already been abandoned long enough that it wasn't worth the effort — the accident of history that makes it the only medieval fortress left standing anywhere in Dobrogea. Its roofless stone walls and towers still crown the hill above the lake today, reachable by a short climb from the village below.