Bender (Tighina) Fortress

Here you can see the Bender Fortress as we approached from bridge, departing Tiraspol. And the bumpy road leading to the Fortress.

There is a Russian military barracks/facility next to the Fortress, so this area is not designed for tourists.

The site was first mentioned as an important customs post in a letter by Alexandru cel Bun on October 8, 1408 (our wedding anniversary! several hundred years later). Stefan cel Mare built a fortress here in the late 1400s to protect against the Tartars. In 1538 the Ottoman Sultan Suleman the Magnificent conquered the fortress and renamed it Bender, meaning 'Belonging to the Turks'; in 1770 it was seized by the Russian Army. (Along with Bessarabia, it became a part of the Russian Empire in 1812, part of Romania in 1918, part of Soviet Union in 1941 - then taken back by Romania during WWII - then part of the Soviet Union in 1944, and then part of Moldova in 1991)

Due to its strategic location, the bloodiest fighting during the 1992 military conflict took place in Bender. (Though it is on the west bank of the Nistru River, it is under the control, for all intents and purposes, of Transnistrian authorities.)

We drove by the Russian peacekeepers (and tank) on our way out of town.

A picture of this fortress is on the back side of the 100 MDL note.

See http://www.moldova.md/en/istorie/2913/ for more information