Romanian fortifications

Kudos on spotting the bunker under Vraja Marii, that is a hard one to see, since it's almost burried.

Where exactly is the bunker you photographed located?

If you go up the street behind the Orthodox cathedral (Strada Revolutiei), coming from Vraja Marii, look to your right. There will be two empty spots, each with a miniature pillbox.

There is also a fragment of an artillery bunker in the Archeological Park, near the ice skating rink/ outdoors cinema, currently being used as a prop warehouse by Fantasio Theatre.

Also, try to go along the Traian Street from the City Hall towards the Train Station, and you will see a lot more casemates littered along the slope to the Harbour, all the way to Poarta 6.

A few more bunkers are in the harbour itself, near "Cuibul Reginei", on the outside part of the seawall that starts from Poarta 1 and leads to the Military Harbour.

A few more lie on the beaches north of Modern (3 Papuci, etc) and some can even be seen at Mamaia, serving as foundations for restaurnts, terraces and bars.

By far the most complete complex is near the Bulgarian Border. A few years ago, I managed to slip into the "No man's land" adjoining the border, and there I discovered an intact Kreigsmarine observations bunker and an L-409 Flack casemate. Acces was gained trough a vertical shaft with metal rungs, and, although this was half-obstructed with mud and other debris, the interior of the bunkers were in very good condition, including the original paint, some scribblings on a wall where a radio set used to be (probably frequencies) as well as ww2 grafitti. The only sign of contemporary human activity was an used condom. If you try to explore this set of fortifications, be forewarned that the borderguards will try to chase you out if they spot you, and also keep clear of the actual border, unless you want to get arrested or shot.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 09, 2006 11:22 pm

It's an observation/comunication bunker similar to the one I found near the Bulgarian Border at Vama Veche, only the earth has slid away from underneath. Normally, only the top of the turret and the sighting holes would have been visible.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 09, 2006 11:23 pm

I believe the bunkers by Vraja Marii were part of the emplacement of the German 280 mm battery.

Well, that would have been the most logical place for heavy artillery. However, one of the bunkers is completely burried beneath the enbankment, and the other one is half obstructed, so It's really hard to tell how they would have looked in their heyday. If I'll go to Constanta later this week (it's starting to look like I won't be able to leave Bucharest until the 14th of the month), I will try to get a hold of some contemporary pictures, as well as ask some people about it.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 10, 2006 10:28 am

Hello this morning I started my expedition in finding and exploring the ww2 bunkers in Constanta. I tried to go in the bunker posted earlier but because it was full of street people (boschetari) I left it alone. Then I started walking along the harbour and I found numerous bunkers all fild with dirt. At the Casino someone broaked the mortar that the autorites put to fill the holes for machine guns and they look very great, I also tried to get in but I didn't found the entrence, I sow something coverd with a sheet of metal, I took it off but it was filed with water.Later tjis day I will go and explore the bunker at trei papuci. If you want me to explore other bunkers please tell me where they are and I will help you with pleasure.

Tomorrow I will go and make photos of all the fortifications and I will post them.

I intended to do the same while in Constanta, but I got so wraped up in the matter of the Mamaia Airport I forgot. However, while talking with an elderly architect on the subject of fortifications, besides naming all the WW2 bunkers still visible today, he recalled seeing another line of fortifications, near Cumpana, some 3km inland! At the time he assumed them to be post-war, since the casemates had slogans on the lines of "Traiasca Republica Populara Romania si Partidul Muncitoresc Roman" (Long Live the Popular Republic Romania and the Romanian Worker's Party) painted on them, but I think they are certainly worth investigating.

Even more puzzling, the same person told me of a trip he took in the 80's while working on the urbanistic designs for the Atomic Plant there, in which he was shown a WW1 vintage fort being used as a warehouse by a local farm.
He described it as being made of brick with vaulted chambers, so I wonder if the fort could in fact be of the same vintage as the Bucharest fortifications.

Anyway, here are a map and a satellite picture detailing the position of the fort, marked "N" on both. On the map, there is also a caption which reads: "N- Fort. Depozit de furaje ferma 3." (Fort. Animal feed warehouse, Farm 3)
Please note the difference in shape between the plan and the photograph, making this even more mysterious.






Also, I was able to find this fort on the list of preserved monuments, so hopefully it will be there, but in Romania this is no guarantee.

In any case, I intend to make a trip there this summer, and afterwards I wil post some pictures on the forum.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 23, 2006 02:39 pm

Maybe the fort is partially buried underground, so that the satelite photo shows only what is visible today at the surface, while the map shows it's true shape

This is indeed possible. Forts of the era were generally burried, and made extensive use of retractible turrets and such - however, I think there can be an easier explaination in the fact that the plan I have is pretty basic and makes ample use of symbols rather than shapes to express various points of interest.
I belive the sketch was used originally in the plotting of powerlines from the Atomic Plant to the rest of Dobrogea, and the fort is only given as a reference because it happened to be a prominent feature in the vicinity of one of the main lines. Thus, the symbol marked "N" on the map might not have anything to do with the actual shape of the fort.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 23, 2006 10:27 pm

It may be one of the forts from the defence of the bridge at Cernavodă. Here is a fragment I have found in The Times History of the War.

It's likely this is one of these forts- it's not apparent from the map and photograph, but the distance between the bridge itself and the fort is rougly 3 miles. Anyway, I think the questions to ask now would be a) How many forts were there originally, and b ) What happened to the others?

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 24, 2006 09:08 am

Sorry, that is all the information given by the mentioned source. It does not say either how many forts were or what was their spacing. On the other hand, once "in the field" around the known fort you may know what to look for or ask the locals.

The Cernavoda bridgehead had three sectors:
- Sector Movilele - 6 fortified batteries and a small fort
- Sector Bogdaproste (Cismelele) - 2 fortified batteries and a small fort
- Sector Dermenegiu - 6 forttified batteries and a small fort

The batteries were usually armed with a 53mm turret and 2 MGs. The forts had one 120mm turret, four 53mm turrets and 4 MGs.

There were other defensive works protecting the bridge itself and some emplacements for artillery.

Thanks Dragos for your accurate info. Does that come from Vasiliu's book?

The fortifications of the bridge still exist, on the top of a hill on the eastern bank, just south of the bridgehead (they are marked "E" on the map). There are at least two visible fortified batteries, but unfortunately, that area still operates as a military unit, so getting permission to visit them seems unlikely.

Two WWII photos from eBay with the description "Cernavoda bunker":