Description : Kiliya (Ukrainian: Кілія; Russian: Килия; Romanian: Chilia ; Moldovan (Cyrillic): Килия ; Polish: Kilia; Greek: Κελλία, Kellía; Turkish: Kilya) is a small city in Odessa Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine. It is located in the Danube Delta, in the Bessarabian historic district of Budjak. The Chilia branch of the Danube river, which separates Ukraine from Romania, is named after Kiliya. Population: 19,280 (2020 est.) A town on the Romanian side of the Chilia branch of the Danube, known as Chilia Veche (Ukrainian: Cтapa Кілія, translit. Stara Kiliya) or "Older Chilia", was founded by the Greek Byzantines - κελλία, kellia in Greek being the equivalent of "granaries", a name first recorded in 1241, in the works of the Persian chronicler Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. Kiliya is therefore sometimes referred to as Nova Kiliya (Russian: Ново Килия, Ukrainian: Нова Кілія, translit. Novo Kiliya, Romanian: Chilia Nouă), or "New Kiliya". In the place that is now Kiliya, existed a large colony established by the Republic of Genoa, known as "Licostomo" and headed by a consul (a representative of the Republic in the region). From that time, only the defensive ditches of a Genoese fortress remained. The city of Kiliya was founded by Stephen the Great of Moldavia, in order to counteract the Ottoman Empire which had taken control over Chilia Veche in the 15th century. It was a major Moldavian port. However, it was eventually conquered by the Ottomans in 1484, who kept it until 1790, when it was taken by Russian army under the command of the general Ivan Gudovich during Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). The Times of London reported that "35,000 of the inhabitants were involved in a general massacre," an incident that had "been celebrated in prose and poetry." The city was given back to the Ottomans in 1792, but retaken by the Russians in 1806 and awarded to them officially in 1812.
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