Belgorod-Dnestrovskii

(Akkerman until 1944), a city in Odessa Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. A harbor on the Dnestr lagoon. Railroad station. Population, 30,000 (1967). The ancient Greek city of Tyras, founded in the sixth century B.C., was located on the site of Belgorod-Dnestrovskii. From the Voskresenie Chronicle it seems that Belgorod-Dnestrovskii (“at the mouth of the Dnestr above the sea”) was one of the ancient Russian cities, an important trade center on the route from Europe to Asia. In the 13th century it was captured by the Tatars, who called it Ak-Libo. In the 14th century Belgorod-Dnestrovskii was under the rule of the Genoese; in the 15th century it was part of the Moldavian Principality. In 1484 it was captured by the Turks, who named it Akkerman (White Fortress). During the wars between Russia and Turkey the city was occupied by the Russian troops in 1770 and in 1789 but returned to Turkey in 1774 and in 1791. On Nov. 30, 1806, it was again captured by the Russian troops and, according to the Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1812, it became part of Russia. It was occupied by Rumania in 1918 and returned to the USSR in 1940. The city has a food industry (meat and fish combines, a creamery, and a wine and juice plant); clothing, furniture, and cardboard factories; and a building materials combine. It has a sea fishing industry and agricultural technicums and pedagogical and medical schools. The big village of Shabo, which is an important center of viticulture and viniculture, is located near Belgorod-Dnestrovskii. One of the biggest fortresses in the Ukraine (1438–54, master Fedorok) with 26 towers, four gates, and a citadel is excellently preserved in Belgorod-Dnestrovskii. The total length of the walls is more than 2 km. In the 16th and 17th centuries the fortress was repaired and the outer moat was deepened.