A complete walk around and through Bender Fortress | Trip to Moldova & Transnistria 2021

Bender Fortress was built as Fort Tighina at the beginning of the 16th century by the Moldavian ruler Ștefan cel Mare near the former town of Tighina in Moldavia. After the city was conquered for the Ottoman Empire in 1538 under Suleyman I, it was given the new name Bender, which derives from the Turkish term "gate". During the Ottoman rule, the fort was then also rebuilt into the Bender Fortress.

For a long time, Bender Fortress was the center of Islam in Moldova. However, it was open to western rulers. Thus, the Swedish King Charles XII found a refuge in Bender when he escaped into exile after the defeat in the Battle of Poltova. With him came Ivan Stepanovich Masepa, captain of the Ukrainian Cossacks, who later died at the fortress.

Charles XII, however, from here repeatedly tried to incite the Ottoman Empire to war against the Russian Empire. A slip-up in the delivery of an order from the Sultan finally led to the "melee of Bender". As a result, Charles and his followers had to leave the camp. According to Andrei, the face of the lion on the coat of arms of Bender is supposed to be the image of the Swedish king.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Bender was besieged by a 33,000-man Russian army under Count Pyotr Ivanovich Panin from July to September 1770 and captured with heavy losses. A second siege took place during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792 in the summer of 1789. It was not until the night of November 3, 1789 that the main Russian army under Field Marshal Potemkin achieved the surrender of the fortress, in which General Mikhail Kutuzov excelled in particular, whose cavalry smashed an attempted relief by the Budzhak Tatars on the outskirts of the city, demoralizing the defenders. In accordance with Potemkin's promise, the entire Muslim population of the city was allowed to sell their land and livestock after the surrender. According to the Peace of Jassy of 1791, the lands east of the Dniester were then transferred to Russia. In 1792, on the other side of the river, the city of Tiraspol was founded by the Russian commander Alexander Suvorov.

During the Russo-Turkish War, the world-famous tenth tall tale of Baron of Munchhausen also took place. His ride on the cannonball starts at the Bendery fortress. According to the story, his general had once asked him to spy on the siege of the Crimean fortress of Ocakiv.
As a result, the baron swung on a cannonball launched from Bendery and flew with it to the besieged fortress. His return flight was even more spectacular. For this, the Liar Baron is said to have transferred to a cannonball coming towards him during the flight.

English title: A complete walk around and through Bender Fortress | Trip to Moldova & Transnistria 2021
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