Windmill, Enisala, Tulcea, Dobrogea (1964)

Gheorghe FocGheorghe · 1964

Windmill, Enisala, Tulcea, Dobrogea. Enisala is a village in Sarichioi village the largest commune in Tulcea County, Dobrogea, Romania. Dobrogea is also referred to as “the land of the winds,” it is in the past also the land of the windmills. They appeared as early as 1585, northern Dobrogea being the area with the highest density of windmills, with hundreds of such plants, with which the locals milled their grain. The camera lens captured an aspect of popular architecture from 1964. The investigation conducted during that period was part of a project carried out in several regions of the country. Along with the new constructions we also photographed old architectural monuments like the detail of the milling plant in the picture. With a rotation system, with the whole body around a pivot, the mill could be rotated by a single man, so that the wind could be captured from any direction, which gave it maximum efficiency. Propium-zise mills are built of wood, with a skeleton made of oak beams, lined with fir boards, attached to stone foundations, to capture strong winds from the area by means of four foothills (wings) fixed in the motor axes. The constructions have two levels, the lower one having a storage role (sacks, utensils) and in the upper one the grinding mechanism is located. The mill detail is fixed to the rotation system. In the background we can see the roofs of the houses from Enisala village.