Babadag formerly known as Babatag, is a town in Tulcea County, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the river Taița, in the densely wooded highlands of Northern Dobruja. 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.
Situated at the crossroads of two roads, one of which connected the North Sea with the Black Sea through central Europe and the other the ports of the eastern Mediterranean and the Pontic steppes, history has given Dobrogea a troubled fate over time. Thus, it is rare to meet a corner of the earth that, on such a small area, would have had a history as rich and troubled as Dobrogea and the same fate was shared by Babadag with its inhabitants over the millennia!
The tourist eager to discover new places or to return to the places that delighted his heart and body is welcome, being greeted, here, “by the land that bears fruit in spring and by the people who are waiting for you with bread and salt”.
The town of Babadag is located 37 km from Tulcea, in the county of the same name, located on the shores of Lake Babadag, in the depression of the same name, at the foot of the forested hills Coiun Baba (father of sheep). Sultan Tepe (Sultan Hill) and Lanik Bair (Ars Hill), the settlement leaving the impression of a miniature mountain locality.
The administrative territory of Babadag covers an area of 12,188.03 ha.
The surface of the land located in the built-up area of the locality is 602.13 ha and in the out-of-town area it is 11,585.90 ha.
Of the total administrative territory of Babadag locality, the agricultural area is 3,831.39 ha. the arable land with an area of 2,863.03 ha, and the forests occupy 4,668.24 ha.The population of Babadag is 10,037 inhabitants, of which 8,466 Romanians, 1,289 Turks, 168 Roma, 37 Lipovans and 77 other nationalities.
History
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 “Turks” (i.e., the Golden Horde).
The town was conquered by Bayezid I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in his 1393 Danubian campaign. The construction of a fortress was begun here during the reign of Murad IV, but by 1650 only the fortress’s 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’s location near to the Black Sea made it a target for the Russian navy, the town was bombed by the Russians in 1854 during the Crimean War. In the mid-19th century, Babadag formed part of the region (sanjak) of Silistra within the “Bulgarian Government” (Danube Vilayet). Following the 1877–1878 war between the Ottoman and Russian empires, Babadag became part of independent Romania.
At Babadag, the Romanian Army operates a military training facility. With a total surface area of 270 km2 (100 sq mi), this is one of the largest and most modern training firing ranges in Europe. In 2008, United States Army forces started to train at Babadag as part of Romania’s integration into NATO.