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The territory of Jurilovca locality has been inhabited from ancient times, here being identified numerous archaeological sites.

On the rocky promontory from Dolojman Cape, 7 km east from the village, at the point named "Dolojman", "Doloşman" or "Cetatea", the ancient town Orgame lies. The archaeological investigations, made here in 1926 - 1932 and since 1965 until now without pause, permitted the unearthing of some important monuments and the sketching of the fortress' history for more than 12 centuries of functioning. The fortress, first locality from nowadays territory of Romania mentioned in an ancient source (Hecataios, Periegesis), was founded at the middle of VII B.C. by the Greeks from Small Asia, with at least a generation before Istros/Histria fortress, in a zone with inhabitancy traces from the Bronze Age and from the first period of the Iron Age. The archaic period is represented by an impressive funeral complex, part of the fortress necropolis, belonging to an important person from the first generation of colonists, inhabitancy traces in the eastern part of the cliff, two manufactured ovens for ceramic; the classical period is illustrated by a segment of the precinct wall, buildings and ovens situated towards the head of the promontory, groups of tumular graves associated on familial criteria in the fortress necropolis; the Later Greeks epoch and the Early Roman epoch are represented by some vestiges kept on the argamens plateau, beyond the defence system of the Roman-Byzantine fortress. In the Roman epoch and Roman-byzantine epoch, the historical sources register the name of the fortress in the alternatives Argamum and Ergamia. The Roman-Byzantine fortress had a surface of about 2.6 ha, a shape apparently triangular with 8 towers, six buttresses (bulwarks) and two main gates - on the western and southern sides, and two small gates on the southern side. The defense system contained, beyond the precinct, two earth walls with groove. Inside the fortress a series of public and private buildings from V -VI A.D. has been investigated and partially restored: "praetorium", basilica with three naves and chapel (conventionally named basilica nr.3), basilica from the central sector (basilica 2), the biggest of the argamens basilicas, basilica with a single nave (basilica 1), dwellings and a part of the streets system. A fourth basilica, with small dimensions, with a single nave, has been discovered at about 1.3 km from the Western Gate, on the summit of a hill 50 m altitude. The Roman-Byzantine necropolis of the fortress occupied the zone anterior inhabited (I B.C. - IV A.D), outside of the defence system.

In front of Orgame citadel, at about 2.5 km east, on Bisericuţa isle, ruins of another Roman-Byzantine fortification and also inhabitancy traces from the Early Middle Age are present.

From the Early Roman epoch dates the tumular necropolis, situated at 1 km north-west from the locality, which totalizes 15 funeral hillocks spread on a 4 - 5 km surface. From the same period, at about 250 m from Jurilovca, Early Roman period graves were discovered.

At the south-western part of the village, both within and outside the built-up area, many inhabitancy cores, probably agricultural settlements, were discovered.

In the same area, accidentally, ceramic fragments belonging to different historical periods, a feudal treasure containing pre-currency signs dated from V - IV B.C. and an Early feudal settlement (IX -X A.D.) were revealed. However, a connection between these traces and the actual locality cannot be established. Neither the Medieval written sources nor Ottomans' registers or foreign travelers' notes places a human settlement in this area, even the localities from the vicinity are mentioned.

The first documentary attestation of the village appears on a Russian military map from the anti-Ottoman war in 1828-1829. There Jurilovca locality, with 20 houses, is mentioned. Afterwards, in the traveling notes of the Polish agent Korsak, the locality appears with the name Jirilevca, being one of the 100 localities which gravitated around the town Babadag. In 1850, the Romanian agronomist Ion Ionescu de la Brad mentions the village as Gucurilika, having 500 houses, and in an important Ottoman document from 1866-1877 the name is Curil(i)ka.





Tradition says that the denomination of the locality comes from the founder Jurilka, who was a Lipovan native of Vâlcov town in Basarabia. Jurilka ran away because of religion persecutions. He settled down at Jurilovca together with other Lipovans attracted by the Razim Lake fish richness.


At the beginning of XX century, the village looked like a clean little town, being an important point for caviar and smoked fish export. Fishing and connected activities had the most significant weight between the inhabitants' occupations.