Păcuiul lui Soare is an island on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in southeastern

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, known for its Bulgarian and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

fortress, built in the 8th century and abandoned by the 15th century. The island belongs to the Ostrov commune in

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

. The village of Ostrov is located on the southern bank of the Danube, in the historical region of

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( or simply ; , ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube, Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria. ...

. The island's name in Romanian means "Soare's Island", using an archaic word for "island". ''Soare'' itself (meaning "Sun" in Romanian) is a Romanian name. Modern researchers suppose that the ruins from the beginning of the 8th century belong to the "Glorious Palace" of the Khans of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

on the Danube and the main base of the Bulgarian Danube fleet. Many Protobulgarian marks have been found engraved in the masonry, resembling that of the imperial capital

Pliska Pliska ( , ) was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a small town in Shumen Province, on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain (Bulgaria), Danubian Plain, 20 ...

. The text from the Holy 40 Martyrs Column found in Tarnovo indicates that the Great Khan Omurtag (?–831) built, perhaps over Byzantine ruins, the medieval port and palace complex. Archaeologist states that the fortress was built between 972 and 976 by the troops of Emperor

John I Tzimiskes John I Tzimiskes (; 925 – 10 January 976) was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. An intuitive and successful general who married into the influential Skleros family, he strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to inclu ...

. In the 1950s, about 25% of the fortress was visible, and in 2011, 10-15% of the fortress was still visible, due to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

Gallery

PacuiulLuiSoareConstanta.JPG, A medieval medallion discovered on Păcuiul lui Soare Wharf of the Bulgarian fortress on the island Ostrov (Păcuiul lui Soare).png, Wharf of the fortress-reconstruction Bulgarian fortress on the island Ostrov.png, Plan of the Bulgarian fortress

References

Romania in the Early Middle Ages Byzantine forts Forts in Romania Islands of the Danube Byzantine sites in Romania Dobruja First Bulgarian Empire River islands of Romania {{Romania-archaeology-stub