Ref Number: 003
Ref Number: 003
In the western outskirts of old Varna, in the area known today as Pogrebite (“The Vaults”), once stood one of the most significant strongpoints of the Ottoman Varna Fortress – Kadir Baba Tabia.
Although no visible remains survive today, its story lives on through old maps, military reports, and local memory.
The name “Kadir Baba” comes from a revered Muslim saint or dervish whose türbe (tomb) is believed to have existed in the area before the construction of the tabia. In Ottoman culture, the word baba (literally “father”) was often used to refer to a holy man or spiritual elder. The name “Kadir,” meaning “powerful” or “almighty” in Arabic.
Kadir Baba Tabia was built or extensively renovated during the large-scale modernization of the Varna Fortress between 1832 and 1837, under Sultan Mahmud II. The tabia was a bastion-shaped fortification constructed from a mixture of stone, brick, and earth. It included artillery platforms, powder magazines, and underground storage rooms. One peculiar detail noted by historians is that materials from older Christian cemeteries were reused in its construction.
Kadir Baba Tabia occupied a southwestern position within the Varna Fortress, near today’s Baruten Pogreb Street. The fortress and its tabias defended the port from sea attacks while also securing land routes. Records from the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) and later from the Crimean War (1853–1856) confirm that Kadir Baba Tabia and neighboring redoubts were actively used for artillery deployment and served as strongholds during sieges.
The clearest evidence of the tabia’s existence appears on an 1854 military map titled “The Encampment of the Armies near Varna,” preserved in the collection of the Bulgarian Maritime Chronicle (Morski Vestnik). The map labels the site explicitly as “Kadirbaba Tabia”, situated at the southwestern corner of the fortress perimeter. Other 19th-century maps show the network of connecting earthworks and defensive ditches surrounding the city. At the time, Varna’s fortress was encircled by a wide moat and a high rampart, making it one of the most formidable strongholds on the western Black Sea coast.
Today, the site of Kadir Baba Tabia is fully integrated into the urban environment. Although in poor technical condition, the powder magazine remains a rare architectural remnant from the Ottoman-era fortifications. The surrounding area, known as “Pogrebite,” takes its name from these underground vaults and storage facilities once used for ammunition and gunpowder.
Today, Kadir Baba Tabia no longer stands as a fortress – but it survives as a chapter of Varna’s collective memory. Its story is part of the greater narrative of the city’s transformation, from a strategic Ottoman stronghold to a thriving modern port. The name itself carries echoes of the past: a symbol of faith, strength, and endurance. Kadir Baba Tabia remains one of the most intriguing and mysterious, a vanished guardian whose presence still lingers beneath the streets of Varna, but as if by magic has ressurected by “Re Bonkers “
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