Izmail fortress - back to the past

The small mosque is the same age as the

legendary Turkish fortress Izmail

• The small mosque is the same age

as the legendary Turkish fortress
Izmail. At one time, the
fortification was considered the
best in Europe: "Rather, the
Danube will flow backwards than
Ishmael will be taken!"
• However, fate had its own plans for
the fortress, therefore today the
mosque is the only structure that
has survived from the fortress.
Myths and facts

• Fortress Izmail (Ishmasl - translated

from Turkish "Hear, God!") Was
erected by the Turks at the end of the
15th century, at the mouth of the
Danube River.
• It was surrounded by earthen
embankments, fortified with retaining
stone walls and redoubts.
• Perhaps the building of the mosque
was also built at the same time
(according to another version, in the
16th century).
Myths and facts

• The fortress was repeatedly

attacked during the Russian-Turkish
wars, the Russians managed to
capture the fortification three
times (in 1770, 1790 and 1809).
• The most famous in history was the
storming of Izmail on December 22,
1790 - then the Russian troops
were commanded by the
commander A. Suvorov. The entire
Turkish garrison was killed.
Myths and facts

• In 1810, the building of the

mosque was converted into a
garrison church of the Exaltation
of the Cross for Russian soldiers.
• The fortress itself, which has
experienced ups and downs more
than once, finally disappeared
from the face of the earth in
1856 - it was blown up in
accordance with the Paris Peace
Treaty.
Myths and facts

• In the 1940s, the premises of the

former mosque were transferred
to the local A. Suvorov Museum.
In 1971-1973, the building
underwent restoration.
• Now it houses the diorama "The
storming of the fortress of Izmail
by the troops of Suvorov"
(department of the city history
museum).
Myths and facts

• The attraction of the

former mosque is the
carved stone mihrab in
the southern wall.
• The diorama "Storming
the Fortress of Izmail" is
a canvas measuring 20 by
8 meters, it is a project
of artists E. Danilevsky
and V. Sibirskiy.
Myths and facts

• According to legend, somewhere under the

old part, in the dungeons of Ishmael, the
treasures of the former Turkish stronghold are
hidden.
• They say that then (as well as now!) The
funds allocated by the Sultan to strengthen
the fortress settled in the pockets of his chief
seraskir (deputy) Aidos-Mehmet Pasha.
Perhaps the seraskir buried his cache in a dug
underground passage under the Danube - but
this is another legend about the secrets of old
Ishmael.
Thank you for the attention!
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