The Citadel

The Citadel was most likely the original fortification built on this site in the late 14th century. Besides being the core structure at Akkerman, the nature of its architecture is appropriate for that date—a courtyard castle with four round corner towers. Given the relatively small space available within the confines of this structure, the Citadel was probably enclosed within a larger enclosure from the beginning, most likely following the line of the Garrison Yard. At this early stage, the latter, however, may have simply been an earthen bank surmounted by a wooden palisade.

Since the 1950s, the Citadel has undergone some restoration, most notably seen on its battlements, which have apparently been given musket loops (small vertically oriented rectangular openings from which hand guns could be shot) as part of the consolidation of their masonry (see p. 83-84, fig. 44). [Fig 2]

External West Wall

The western face of the Citadel houses a first floor recessed doorway and passage that probably served as the original high-status entrance into the Citadel. [Fig 3] To the outside, this entrance probably opened outward onto a wooden stairway or drawbridge that gave access to the ground below. According to our project architect, Konstantyn Prysiazhny, the door’s recess may have accommodated a drawbridge when it was in its vertical position. On the inside, this entrance led down a short passage to the first floor level of the Citadel’s inner courtyard building (see below).

Directly below this first floor entrance is a now blocked doorway and passage at ground floor level. It is unclear whether this entrance was ever contemporaneous with the one above. It may, in fact, have preceded it, functioning as the main entrance only temporarily during the early phases of the Citadel’s construction, before the upper floor levels (and first floor entrance) were complete. At that point, it may have been blocked up, particularly if it was superseded by the separate ground level entrance found in the south wall of the Citadel (see below). Unfortunately, the only relative dating evidence we have for this lower entrance is that it certainly ceased to exist by the time the Citadel’s inner cistern was built, since this feature now blocks its connection to the inner courtyard (see below).

Later, with the creation of a gun platform in the angle between the Citadel and the west curtain wall of the Garrison Yard (see below), this doorway may have provided easy access between the gun platform and the Citadel. This arrangement is similar to that seen on the Citadel’s east side (see below).

To the upper left of these doors, one can see where a plaque was previously mounted on the Citadel’s outer wall, presumably the Moldavian plaque used by Şlapac to date the Citadel to ca. 1395. Farther up the wall and to the left, a small window protrudes through the Citadel’s west wall. The existence of this plaque and the first floor entrance into the Citadel suggests that this western face of the Citadel originally served as its ceremonial front. Later, under the Ottomans, the south face probably came to be seen as the Citadel’s front.

External SW Tower

To the right (south) of this original entrance is the SW Tower of the Citadel, sitting upon a polygonal base. From the outside, there appear to be no window openings in this tower. Note, however, that there is a missing stone on its south aspect that may indicate a small opening for a plunging window. [Fig 2] The significance of this windowless interior will be discussed below when we consider the tower’s internal features.

External South Wall

The southern face of the Citadel is pierced by a simple arched ground level entrance. [Fig 2] This entrance was blocked by a door, as evidenced by the hole in the passageway’s ceiling where the door’s pivot pole would have rotated. This door was in turn backed by a drawbar, as indicated by the drawbar slots behind it on either side of the passageway. After inspecting this doorway and its passage through the curtain wall into the Citadel, project member Richard Haddlesey and the author suggest that it was an original entrance into the Citadel’s small courtyard, possibly functioning as a service entrance, in contrast to the more prestigious access provided by the first floor entrance found on the west face of the Citadel (see above). [Fig 3]
In front of this entrance, low walls form a minor ‘Barbican’ area stretching from the SW Tower to the SE Tower. The eastern half of this ‘Barbican’ was previously roofed over, as evidenced by the roofline clearly seen on the SE Tower. [Fig 4]

External SE Tower

To the right (east) of this ‘Barbican’ is the SE Tower of the Citadel, which also sits on a polygonal base. From the outside, there are eight window openings that penetrate the walls of this tower. [Figs 4-5] Their significance will be discussed below with the tower’s internal arrangements.

External East Wall

The eastern face of the Citadel is pierced by two small windows. [Fig 5] The one to the left of center is the apse window of the Citadel’s chapel, while the other one is located at the upper right near where the east wall joins the NE Tower.

External NE Tower

To the right (north) is the Citadel’s sole tower that is currently roofed, the NE Tower. [Fig 5] Its most notable feature is the doorway that opens into space at first floor level on its east side. In the past, this would have provided easy access between the Citadel and the gun platform that previously existed here behind the Garrison Yard’s north curtain wall to the far right (see below).

External North Wall

To view the northern face of the Citadel one must exit the fortress and approach it from the shoreline of the estuary. [Fig 6] From the outside, this wall is pierced by a small opening (top left), seven windows (some now blocked), and two latrine chutes that exit the thickness of the wall to the left (east)—one at first floor level in the seam between the NE Tower and the North Wall and the other above it, at second floor level, just to its right. [Fig 6a]

External NW Tower

To the right (west) is broken masonry exposed where the NW Tower collapsed outward into the estuary. [Fig 6] Repairs have since blocked the exposed internal masonry [Fig 7], creating an angled platform at the tower’s summit that (when seen from the Garrison Yard’s wall-walk) is reminiscent of the polygonal towers that were remade around the fortress to mount cannons. [Fig 8]

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Inner Courtyard

The inner courtyard of the Citadel is currently empty with the exception of two vaulted structures at ground level. [Fig 1] The larger one is in the NW corner. [Fig 9] It is entered via a protrusion along the west wall of the Citadel and opens onto a staircase that leads down to a subterranean chamber (p. 81, fig. 42). We were unable to gain access into this chamber, though we suspect that it may have served as a cistern or a magazine for gunpowder. The smaller one hugs the south wall near its SE corner and is formed by a vaulted roof constructed between two upright stacks of masonry that may have served as supports for a stair leading up from the Citadel’s small courtyard to the Citadel’s wall-walk (p. 87, fig. 48). [Fig 10]

Currently, there are no inner courtyard structures that exist at first or second floor level. However, in the past, it is clear that such structures did exist in the northern and eastern three-quarters of the courtyard, rising up to the level of the wall-walk. This is evident from the numerous features surviving in the various walls around the courtyard, including rooflines, window openings, and doorways into tower and to latrines.

The plan of I. O. Ivanenko (who analyzed Akkerman fortress in the 1950s)(p. 80, fig. 42) of these internal spaces within the Citadel identifies a possible configuration of the courtyard buildings at ground floor, first floor, and second floor levels. Plans dating from the beginning of the 19th century (p. 87, fig. 48) also provide a possible configuration for the ground floor plan of the inner courtyard.

Internal East Wall

The east wall of the courtyard provides evidence of numerous elements. [Fig 11] At first floor level, just to the right of center, is the apse of a chapel (with niches on either side) that protrudes into the thickness of the wall. Its window pierces the wall to look out onto the northeast corner of the Garrison Yard. To the far left (north), there are two doorways. The larger, though appearing to enter the NE Tower, actually provides access to the first floor latrine that exits the Citadel’s north wall overlooking the estuary. The smaller doorway is the one that gives access up a short stairway to the first floor chamber in the NE Tower.

Above these doorways, at second floor level just outside of the NE Tower, one can see an opening in the masonry at wall-walk level that allowed passage from a courtyard structure (now missing) onto the wall-walk. This wall-walk circumnavigated the Citadel and formed the main artery of traffic between the towers (see below).

The diagonal roofline noticeable at the center of the east wall probably dates to a different period than the Citadel’s original courtyard structures.

Internal North Wall

The north wall of the courtyard also provides evidence of numerous elements. [Fig 9] At ground floor level, the vaulted structure (cistern or gunpowder magazine?) to the left (west) obscures any elements surviving in that part of the north wall (apparently a doorway into the NW Tower, see below). To the right of this, however, at the center of the wall, there is a sink-basin fixture that is connected by pipes to a trough that continues east through the wall’s thickness into two more niches to the right (east), which might be blocked windows. There may have been a stable area here, underneath the upper floor courtyard structures. Note that the “service entrance” into the Citadel’s courtyard at ground floor level through the south wall is tall enough to have allowed horses to enter.

At first floor level, there are two seated window alcoves (although the right hand one has had its seats removed and the window blocked), and between these, to the right of center, is evidence of a wall that divided this floor into east and west portions.

At second floor level, there are three seated window alcoves, and between them are two small shelf-like niches. Based on Ottoman documentary evidence, we suggest that the council chamber (divanhane) was situated in this section. At the far right, a doorway leads into the wall’s thickness to the upper latrine whose chute exits the north wall over the estuary shoreline.

Internal West Wall

The west wall of the courtyard also provides evidence for a few features. [Fig 12] At ground floor level, the right hand (north) side of this wall is blocked by the large vaulted structure that descends to a subterranean vault. The entrance to this structure (at center) obscures a blocked passageway through the west wall that previously allowed entrance into the Citadel from the Garrison Yard’s northwest corner.

Right above this, at first floor level, a surviving passageway leads to the Citadel’s original entrance (see above), now blocked by an iron gate. [Fig 3] The original door to this entrance was backed by a drawbar, as indicated by the drawbar slots on either side of the passage. Above and to the right of this passage, rooflines are detectable on the west wall, as is another low opening in the masonry at wall-walk level (note the ladder) that allowed passage from courtyard structures (now missing) onto the wall-walk—the Citadel’s main thoroughfare between the corner towers.

Internal South Wall

The south wall of the courtyard provides the least evidence for internal courtyard structures. [Fig 10] At ground floor level to the left (east), a doorway provides access to the ground floor of the SE Tower. This is mirrored by a much smaller doorway in the right hand (west) corner that gives access to the ground floor of the SW Tower. Between these can be found two stacks of masonry built up against the south wall that may have supported a stairway that climbed from right to left up to the wall-walk. Between the stacks is a small vaulted area, probably used for storage. To the right of this is the ground level “service” entrance into the Citadel (see above). [Fig 2]

Internal SE Tower

The SE Tower is entered in two very different ways. At ground floor level, a doorway in the courtyard’s south wall leads to a passage that brings one into the ground floor room that was clearly used for storage, possibly as a prison. Light in this room is provided by three small loops high up on the walls with plunging embrasures down towards ground level. It would have been difficult to climb up into these embrasures and certainly impossible to squeeze out through the loops.

In contrast, the upper floors of this tower were entered at second floor level from the Citadel’s wall-walk. [Fig 13] The second floor was well-lit by four window loops. Two stairs at this level hugged the tower’s inner walls. The one along the northern curve allowed one to descend to the first floor room, which was also well-equipped with three window loops, while the one along the eastern curve led up to the tower’s parapet (a possible third floor). [Fig 14] Given their good lighting and relative inaccessibility from the central parts of the Citadel, the middle two rooms in this tower probably served as relatively high-status accommodations.

Based on Ottoman documentary evidence, we are tentatively assigning the name “Maiden’s Tower” (Kız Kulesi) to this tower (contrary to Şlapac who assigns this name to Tower 11 below).

Internal NE Tower

The NE Tower—the one with the roof—has three internal floor levels. Entrance into this tower from the courtyard is via a first floor doorway in the east wall (see above). [Fig 11] This means that one must have already been inside a first floor courtyard structure (possibly the castle’s main hall) before gaining access to this tower. Through this doorway, up a few stairs, the passage enters the tower’s first floor from the south. This room is lit by two gun loops (circular openings through which small guns could be shot), one to the northwest and another (now blocked) to the northeast. Around the north and east sides of this chamber, a stone bench hugs the wall of the tower. On the south side, a stair descends to the ground floor room, while another stair on the west ascends to the second floor.

The ground floor of this tower houses a small room with two former embrasures piercing its wall to the north and east. While the former sits lower in the wall and is now blocked, the latter has a short staircase leading up into it. This embrasure is now a doorway that exits the Citadel into space in the northeastern corner of the Garrison Yard. In the past (late 17th/18th centuries) it provided access onto the gun platform that stood behind the Garrison Yard’s north curtain wall (see above and below). [Fig 5]

The second floor of this tower exists at wall-walk level and is connected to both the north and east wall-walks by separate doors. [Fig 15] This is the only tower within the Citadel that one must enter and then exit to make a full circuit of the wall-walk—the others are all entered via a single doorway off the diagonal corner of the passing wall-walk. As a result, this tower would have seen much more traffic than the other towers, suggesting it may have been used by the garrison of the castle, rather than as a high-status accommodation.

Based on Ottoman documentary evidence, we are tentatively assigning the name “Millet Tower” (Darı Kulesi; Erzen Kulesi) to this tower.

Internal NW Tower

The NW Tower is no longer standing, having collapsed outward into the estuary. It previously was entered at ground floor level via a doorway from the inner courtyard. Though this is now obscured on the inside of the Citadel, examination of this tower from the outside indicates the (now blocked) passageway into the tower’s ground floor.4 [Fig 7] Above this doorway into the tower, the inner wall of the first floor room has a decorative niche. This suggests the room provided high-status accommodation. This room’s connection to the ones below and above it remains unclear, as does any access from the wall-walk. The latter seems very likely, however, given that each of the three other corner towers was accessible via the wall-walk.

Based on Ottoman documentary evidence, we are tentatively assigning the name “Armoury Tower” (Cebehane Kulesi) to this tower.

Internal SW Tower

The SW Tower, like the SE Tower, is entered in two very different ways. At ground floor level, a doorway and passage from the courtyard provides access to the ground floor room—unfortunately we were unable to gain access to this space. [Fig 10] However, it was clearly used for storage since it appears to have had no light penetrating it from the outside.5 The roof of this room is probably vaulted, since the floor above is made of stone (and now has a tree growing on it).

In contrast, the upper floors of this tower were entered at second floor level from the wall-walk. [Fig 16] Here, a flight of steps descended down to either a deep first floor level or a shallow second floor level.6 With no window loops to provide light, this space was probably used for storage. Access to the uppermost floor of this tower (possibly a third floor level depending on what was constructed below) was via a stair just to the right of the entrance from the wall-walk along the inner wall’s curve. This top floor may have been for additional garrison accommodations given the lack of any nice windows.

Based on Ottoman documentary evidence, we are tentatively assigning the name “Gunpowder Tower” (Barut Kulesi) to this tower.

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