Chilia Veche
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chilia Veche (pronunciation: /ki.'li.a 've.ke/; meaning Older Chilia; Ukrainian: Stara Kilia) is a commune in Tulcea County, Romania, on the Danube Delta (Dobruja). It gave its name to the Chilia branch of the Danube, which separates it from Ukraine.
Founded by the Byzantines, it was given its name after the word for "granaries" - κελλίa, kellia, recorded earliest in 1241 in the works of Persian chronicler Rashid al-Din. A town on the other side of the Danube, in Ukraine, known as Novo Kilia (Romanian: Chilia Nouă) or "Newer Chilia", was built by Stephen the Great of Moldavia in order to counteract the Ottoman Empire (that had taken control of the former town in the 15th Century).
