Kaynardzha (also transliterated as ''Kajnardža''; , ; ; ; ) is a village in northeastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of

Silistra Province Silistra Province (, ''Oblast Silistra'') is a province of Bulgaria. Formerly known as the Silistra okrug, it is located on the northeast corner of Bulgaria. The province is part of the Southern Dobrudja region, with its largest and major city ...

. It is the administrative centre of Kaynardzha Municipality, which lies in the easternmost part of Silistra Province, in the historical region of

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja or South Dobruja ( or simply , ; or , ), also the Quadrilateral (), is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra provinces, part of the historical region of Dobruja. It has an area of 7,412 square km an ...

, close to the Romanian border. The village is known as the location of the signing of the

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (; ), formerly often written Kuchuk-Kainarji, was a peace treaty signed on , in Küçük Kaynarca (today Kaynardzha, Bulgaria and Cuiugiuc, Romania) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, ending the R ...

on 21 July 1774 between Count

Pyotr Rumyantsev Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (; – ) was one of the foremost Russian generals of the 18th century, and is widely considered to be one of Russia's greatest military leaders, and one of the greatest military commanders in ...

, representative of Empress

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and Musul Zade Mehmed Pasha, representative of Sultan

Abdul Hamid I Abdulhamid I or Abdul Hamid I (, ''`Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i evvel''; ; 20 March 1725 – 7 April 1789) was the 27th sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1774 to 1789. A devout and pacifist sultan, he inherited a bankrupt empire and sought military r ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The treaty put an end to the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, which was devastating for the once-mighty Ottoman realm. The village was taken away from Ottoman rule in 1878, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. After the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, it was ceded by the

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

to the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

along with all of Southern Dobruja; as part of the interwar

Durostor County Durostor County was a county (''județ'') of the Kingdom of Romania, in Southern Dobruja, with the seat at Dârstor. The county was located in the south-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the southern Dobrogea region, known as Cadrilater. Current ...

, it was known as ''Cainargeaua Mică'', a translation and adaptation of the older

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

name, ''Küçük Kaynarca'' ("small

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

place"). Per the

Treaty of Craiova The Treaty of Craiova (; ) was signed on 7 September 1940 and ratified on 13 September 1940 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under its terms, Romania had to allow Bulgaria to retake Southern Dobruja, which Romania had gained ...

of 1940, all of Southern Dobruja was returned to Bulgaria. Since October 2017, Kaynardzha has been linked with the neighbouring commune of Lipnița in Romania via the Kaynardzha-Lipnița border crossing.

Municipality

Kaynardzha municipality covers an area of 316 square kilometres and includes the following 15 places:

Gallery

Image:Küçük Kaynarca.jpg, Location of the

's signing Image:Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca1.jpg, Memorial plaque

References

External links

Kaynardzha page at the Silistra Province website
Villages in Silistra Province Place names of Turkish origin in Bulgaria {{Silistra-geo-stub