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Enisala is one of the oldest Romanian settlements which inhabitancy continuity is attested by the archaeological and historical sources from the prehistory until now. On a small promontory, named by the inhabitants "La Palanca", the archaeological investigations revealed inhabitancy traces from Aeneolithic, Bronze Age, Hallstatt and La Tène. On the Medieval Fortress Hill, the inhabitancy traces date from the end of Bronze Age and Hallstatt.
In the Net Valley, one of the largest Gaeto-Dacian necropolis in Romanian territory was investigated. Until now, 400 graves belonging to IV - II B.C. have been studied. Many funeral urns and objects unearthed can be seen at the Museum of Archaeology and history from Tulcea.
At the western part of the village, at the point named "La Biserica", a Gaetic settlement (I B.C. - I A.D.) was identified and partially researched. At the same place, a bi-ritual Dacian-Roman necropolis with over 150 incineration and inhumation graves dating from the end of I and II A.D. and also inhabitancy traces from VIII - IX A.D. have been discovered.
On the place where the village is presently situated, a Roman period (I - VI A.D.) inhabitancy nucleus was found. At the point named "Pestera", a Roman - Byzantine (IV - VI A.D.) fortification, about 2 ha surface, rectangular shape, with defence ditches at southern and eastern sides was identified.
The most impressive monument from all these historical vestiges is the medieval fortress. It is built on the highest promontory between Babadag Lake and Razim Lake and dominates the land and the water. The fortification was built for economical and strategic reasons, in XIII-XIV A.D. It was part of the Genoese chain of colonies which contained the towns Chilia and Likostomion from Danube Delta, White Citadel from Nistru river's mouths, Caffa and Balaclava from the south of Crimea. Between 1937 and 1416, when Mircea the Old ruled Wallachia, Enisala fortress was part of the Wallachia's defence system. After the conquest of Dobrudja by Turks, a Turkish military garrison has been installed in the fortress.
Afterwards, Turkish domination advanced beyond Danube's mouths as far as White Citadel and Chilia and sandy cordons which separate Razim Lake from Black Sea have been formed. The fortress didn't respond any more to the Turkish economical and strategic interests, fact which determined its abandonment.
The fortress' walls, built in limestone blocks, are equipped on three sides with defense towers. The entrance (on the south side) was made through a gate with a very high opening, with double archway and protected by a massif pentagonal bulwark. The second precinct wall of the fortification, situated on the north-western side, is equipped with square and triangular towers. After 1991, the walls were restored, Enisala becoming an important touristic point.
The name of the fortress is lost and the actual denomination of the village and, implicitly, of the monument, comes from the Turkish Yeni Sale which means "New village". In XV century, when Dobrudja entered under the Ottoman domination, the locality was populated by Romanians. The archaeological investigations made at the point "La Biserica" led to the discovery of a cemetery from XV - XVIII, attributed to this Christian Romanian population.
Yeni Sala appears in the Turkish chronicles from XV - XVI when the conquest of the fortress by the Ottomans from the Romanian leaders is described. This proves also the fact that the settlement was there before the foreign domination in the territory between Danube and Black Sea.
The oldest mention of this name can be found in the chronicle of SüKrüllah, dating from the first part of the XV century.
Afterwards, in the Turkish register from 1573, it is mentioned as belonging to the department Hârşova-Babadag, being enumerated between the villages obliged to pay ships to the Porte. The locality also appears in the register from 1675 or in that from 1676 as belonging to the department Babadag and in the Russian map made subsequently to the war from 1877 - 1878, the locality had 5-20 households.
The Polish agent Korsac mentions it in 1849 and then Ion Ionescu de la Brad mentions it in 1850 with the name Ienisali.
Between 1864 and 1877, the locality is mentioned in an important Turkish document with its initial name Yeni Sala.
After 1882, it becomes rural commune, being inhabited further on by Romanians.