Our next stop is the Enisala Fortress. This one is slightly different from the other sites we visited today. First it is not an ancient Greek site, it is a Genovese fortress when Genoa had primacy over the Black Sea. Second it is an actual fortress more than a city with recognizable walls and towers all around.
The parking lot is at the base at the hill and the ticket office is on top so we start the hike up the hill to buy the ticket. There are some nice views from the road and soon we make it to the top and buy our ticket.
The fortress was built at the beginning of the 14th century after the Genovese merchants took the monopoly of the Black Sea commerce from the Byzantine Empire. In search of new markets for their goods, the merchants raised the fortress on the location of an older Byzantine construction from the 10th-11th centuries, the fortress of Heracleea. And it was quite successful with luxury goods being traded before being lost in 1419-1420 when the Ottomans conquered Dobrogea.
We explore the interior courtyard for some time, it is well preserved and we really like exploring all the nooks and crannies of this abandoned fortress.
There are three surviving towers, some in good condition but you cannot climb them, just look at them from the outside and the bottom.
And then after a short visit to the museum we start descending enjoying the beautiful views of vineyards, abandoned or not, before starting the drive to the last attraction of the day, Halmyris fortress.
