Fortress Drustar (Roman name Durostorum) is located between the city limits of Silistra city. In its beginning it probably occurred as a Thracian shelter which later was used by the Romans to build a large and strong fortress-city along the Danube.
The town flourished in the first III-II centuries BC under name Durostorum until 238 when the Karpi tribes destroyed it. The ancient Durostorum was founded in 106 AD when at the order of Traian Emperor the city hosted one of the elite units of the Roman Empire – Claudius’s 11th Legion. This is the beginning of a glorious and remarkable history. The philosopher Marcus Aurelius says Durostorum was a self-governed city – municipium. The city was administered by two elected duumvirs, two assistants and two conservatives – treasurers of the city. It was affected in 17 by the Costoboci invasion but it recovered fast.
Between the 2nd and the 4th century Durostorum is the main defence fortress against the barbarians. Durostorum is also an administrative and economic center of major importance and also a customs point. Nice and big public buildings, temples, basilicas, bathrooms and private houses, marble statues and sculptures on the streets, aqueducts were built. In 238 the karpi conquered the fortress, robbed it and took the inhabitants as slaves. For the first time the Durostorum is ruined. In 294, 303 and 304 – the roman emperor Diocletian visited Durostorum who became the center of Moesia eparchy starting with 296. Between 366-369 – during the first major Roman War, Valens emperor was hosted in Durostorum.
In 377 the Goths robbed and burned the city but it was restored later. In 390 it is born here “Rome’s Savior”, also known as „the last Roman” – Flavius Aetius.
Between 527 and 565, during the reign of the byzantine emperor Justinian, the city receives a new name Dorostol. The fortification walls were reconditioned after the Huns’ attack in 441 and Goths’ in 474. In 586 the city is conquered by the Avars but soon the Byzantine empire took it back. In 594 Priscus – the byzantine strategist transformed Dorostol in a military base for operations against the Slaves.
