Babadag

From World travel guide

Babadag (historical name: Template:Lang-tr) is a town in Tulcea county, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the Taiţa river, in the densely wooded highlands of northern Dobruja. Its name means "the mountain of the father" in Turkish. One of the several tombs of Sari Saltik is found in town.

The Babadag Lake is divided only by a strip of marshland from Razim Lake, a broad landlocked sheet of water spilling into the Black Sea. Babadag used to be a market for wool and mutton. Template:Fact

1 Demographics
2 History
3 Military training facility
4 References
5 External links

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Demographics

Babadag has a population of 10,038, according to the 2002 census. In 1900, its population was 3,500.

Population distribution:

8,466 Romanians (84.3%)
1,289 Turks (12.8%)
168 Roma (1.7%)
37 Lipovans (0.4%)
77 Others

85.5% spoke Romanian, 12.5% Turkish and 1.3% Romani as their first language. 84.8% were Orthodox and 14.2% Muslim.

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History

Image:Babadag-19thcentury-BGRod.png

Babadag at the end of 19th century

The name of Babadag is connected with 13th century dervish Baba Sari Saltik, who is said to have led a number of Turcomans to Dobruja and to have settled them in this area. The town was first mentioned by Ibn Battuta under the name Baba Saltuk, as the furthermost outpost of the TurksTemplate:Fact.

The town was conquered by Bayezid I, a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in his Danubian campaign of 1393. The construction of a fortress was begun here during the reign of Murad IV, but by 1650 only the fortress' foundation walls and towers were standing. In the 17th century, it occasionally served as the winter headquarters for the Grand Vizier of the Turks during their wars with Russia. The town was bombed by the Russians in 1854.Template:Fact

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Military training facility

Image:Babadag firing range.jpg

Babadag firing range during an Allied training exercise.

At Babadag, the Romanian Army operates a military training facility. With a total surface area of 270 km², this is one of the biggest and most modern training firing ranges in Europe.

US forces have started to train at Babadag as part of Romania's integration into NATO.<ref>MEDIAFAX Foto</ref>

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