Basarabi

There are other localities named Basarabi. See Basarabi (disambiguation).

Basarabi is a town in Constanţa county, Romania. It is a port on the Danube-Black Sea Canal and has a population of 11,070.

Basarabi is also the place of birth the Romanian president, Traian Băsescu.

Basarabi Cave Complex

In 1957 in a nearby cave carved in a chalk hill, a complex of small Christian churches, dwellings, crypts and tombs, which were used from the 9th century until 11th century.

There are many inscriptions on the walls: in Asiatic Runes, Greek, Old Slavic(written with Glagolitic and Cyrilic alphabets). The language of these Asiatic Runes and mixt inscriptions is still unknown. It may be Proto-Bulgarian, as suggested by a lot of Bulgarian scientists, or turanic, as implied by Romanian ones.

It is said that the names included are of Romanian (Latin) origin, such as "Petru" and even Nordic "Rainpilpe". Among the drawings on the walls can be found representations of Viking ships (Dobrogea was most likely near the trading routes between the Vikings and the Byzantine Empire. Still, Rainpilpe is not of a Northern origin, and the low hull banana-shaped keel of the so called Viking ship ressembles Mediterranean patterns.

External links

• A complete monograph, including photos, layouts, detailed descriptions, explanatory texts, and a video, of the entire Basarabi Complex – in Romanian, but photos are useful – at the Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website Patzinakia
• Basarabi – The Cave Churches Complex
• The Rupestral Complex of Basarabi (in Romanian)