Durostorum

Silistra, Bulgaria Силистра
View of the river Danube
Coat of arms
Silistra, Bulgaria Location of Silistra
Coordinates: 44°7′N 27°16′E / 44.117°N 27.267°E / 44.117; 27.267Coordinates: 44°7′N 27°16′E / 44.117°N 27.267°E / 44.117; 27.267
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Silistra
Government
• Mayor	Yulian Naydenov
Area
• City	27.159 km2 (10.486 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (2012)
• City	35 230
• Urban	50 780
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	7500
Area code(s)	086
Climate	Cfa
Website	Official website

Silistra (Bulgarian: Силистра) is a port city in northeastern Bulgaria. The city lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Silistra is the administrative center of the Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha.

Silistra is a major cultural, industrial, transportation, and educational center of northeastern Bulgaria. There are many historical landmarks including a richly-decorated Late Roman tomb, remains of the Medieval fortress, an Ottoman fort, and an art gallery.

The name Silistra is possibly derived from the root of the old Thracian name of the lower part of the Danube "Istrum". By another theory, the city's name comes from the Latin words "silo" and "stra", meaning "awl" and "strategy".

Silistra is in the northeastern part of Bulgaria on the southern bank of the Danube River. It is located in the Bulgarian part of Dobrudzha.

The municipality of Silistra covers an area of 516 km² and includes the city and 18 villages. The area of the city-proper is 27.159 km².

Silistra is 431 km from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria; 141 km from Varna; and 119 km from Ruse.

The Romans built a fortress in AD 29 on the site of an earlier Thracian settlement and kept its name, Durostorum (or Dorostorum). The earliest saints of Bulgaria are Roman soldiers executed at Durostorum during the Diocletian Persecution (303–313), including St. Dasius and St. Julius the Veteran. Durostorum became an important military center of the Roman province of Moesia, and grew into a city at the time of Marcus Aurelius. In 388, Durostorum became the seat of a Christian bishopric and a center of Christianity in the region. Roman general Flavius Aëtius was born in the town in 396. After the Roman Empire split into the Eastern and Western empires, the town (known as Δουρόστολον, Durostolon in Byzantine Greek) became part of the Byzantine Empire. As part of the Bulgarian Empire Durostolon was known as Drastar in Medieval times.