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Tulcea
Romania's Crescent City
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In
County Tulcea
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 The photo immediately preceding this notice is Copyright (c)2005 - 2008 Rest
Romania SRL, All rights reserved.
Photo:
© REST ROMÂNIA
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The Port of Beginnings and Endings
Tulcea is an
amazing port city of many starts and finishes as land slowly yields
to water across the Danube Delta.
After 100km of a marshy wide flood plain studded with
remnant lakes, the Danube starts to fan out here to create Europe's
newest land, across finger lakes and man-made canals, ending the river's
journey to the Black Sea.
The highway also ends in Tulcea, as does the trans-Dobrogean
rail line, which runs from the docks of Tulcea, directly south through
the heart of Romanian Dobrogea down to the Bulgarian border.
The high-speed ferries begin in Tulcea, speeding passengers
out to the outpost town of
Sulina, on the very
edge of the Delta, where the mainland European Union see's it's first
sunlight every day (technically,
islands like France's
Reunion
in the Indian Ocean see the sunlight first. Thank you to Rodney
Darryl of Las Vegas for that fact).
Romania's Crescent City
The mighty European watercourse starts deep in the Black
Forest of Germany, powering it's way 2850km through Austria, Slovakia,
Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia before entering Romania.
Romania enjoys the longest section of the Danube of any
country, with nearly one third of Western and Central Europe's longest
river, and of course, the only country with the Danube Delta.
Northern Dobrogea's Capital
Tulcea is in the perfect location for exploration of the widely
varying lands laid out to the east, south and west of the city.
The Danube River splits to form the northern
Chilia Arm and the southern Tulcea Arm just north of Tulcea.
The main Chilia Arm, which has most of the river's flow, travels out
to the Black Sea along the border with the Ukraine.
The southern Tulcea Arm flows south to Tulcea, and after a few
short bends, splits again to form the
Sulina Arm and the
Sfântu Gheorghe Arm. These 3
main arms are the main transportation by-ways of the
Danube Delta,
making Tulcea an important hub for the ferries, fast river boats and
hydrofoils.
Extending south-east from Tulcea a lone two-lane road trundles
towards the Delta, running along the last ground along the St.
George Arm.
The City of Tulcea operates as a regional centre and market town
for the largely agrarian communities in this
Delta Margins area, which collects an assortment of Delta
Russian and Lippovan cultures and combines them with the Tatar and
Turk remnant populations. Fishing around
Uzlina in particular is nicely accessible from Murighiol.
The Highlands and Steppe
The City of Tulcea is also a highway and rail hub for southern
County Tulcea, and the mountainous
Western Tulcea
region.
Featuring gently rolling hills and
wineries within a half hour drive from the Tulcea city centre,
the much dryer steppic topography and biogeography of the western
portion of County Tulcea offers unique areas where the confluence of
Mediterranean, Balcic, and Asiatic zones converge, all accessible
from Tulcea City.
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THE DANUBE
RIVER IN EUROPE
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The Danube runs through five countries from the
Black Forest of Germany through Austria, Hungary and Serbia on it's
way to Romania, which has a third of it's 2860km run to the
Danube Delta. The river also forms a border for 5 other
countries.
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From the Black Forest
to the Black Sea
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If you have some information for us about Tulcea or
County Tulcea, please
Let us know about it now!
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Easy to Walk Downtown
 All of the major attractions and views in Tulcea town
are within two blocks of each other, making it quite easy for you to
hit the top four or five in an easy morning or afternoon.
Plaza of the Republic (Piaţa Republicii)
is a great starting point, so head from the train station, bus station
or your accommodation to there and begin your tour around the various
museums, galleries and river and delta-related attractions that give
Tulcea it's riparian zeal.
Saint Nicholas Cathedral (built in1865)
It cannot be forgotten that as the northern-most city in the
Dobrogea region, Tulcea gained a rich Turkish heritage under Ottoman
rule for over 450 years.
Built in 1877 and restored in 1924, it's worth a quick trip at least to the Azizia mosque, just
a couple of blocks down-river from the main Republic Plaza, and
several sites (below) follow naturally on a little loop around the
eastern quarter of the downtown area.
The Independence Monument
The Independence Monument on Gloriei Street is in it's
own little park atop one of the hills of Tulcea town.
Built in 1899 to honour the war dead from the War of
Independence, which is what the Romanians call their part of the
Russo-Turkish wars.
Romania sided with Russia in the conflict
which ended in 1878, when the Ottoman Turks were forced out of
Dobrogea. The Turkish province of Dobruja had been in the
Ottoman Empire since 1420, which gives today's Dobrogea it's diverse
cultural history.
The grand granite obelisk points 22 metres skyward, bordered
by a bronze infantryman and an eagle. The views of the river
and town are wonderful here, so take the camera!
Originally carved in a studio near in Milan out of Bavenno
granite, the monument was paired with the bronze figures from a Venice
studio, and shipped and assembled on the Tulcean hill.
Also on this site you'll see the uncovered remains of
the Roman city which was similarly perched on the banks of the Danube.
Not quite as impressive as the finds at the old Greek and Romana port
city of Istria to the south, it's nonetheless worth a quick look.
The Rich History of Tulcea Town
The Tulcea History and Archaeology Museum
Just alongside the monument park is Tulcea's history
museum, stuffed with antiquities from medieval times which lay out the
rich heritage of Northern Dobrogea across nearly 90,000 artifacts, including
coin and epigraphs across collections focusing on ceramics, bronze,
and sculptural pieces. Some of Christendom's
earliest churches were in Tulcea county, with 4th century remains at
Tulcea, then Niculitel.
+40 (204) 513 626, Open Tues - Sunday, 8am - 4pm
The Tulcea Museum of Art is sited in a beautiful spot
on the cliffs overlooking the Danube.
 The collections of art, engravings and contemporary sculpture
are complimented by an exceptional collection of interbellum avant garde,
Surrealist, Expressionist and Impressionist artwork, including pieces
by Romanians Gheorghe Petrascu, Nicolae Toniţa,
Theodor Pallady, Nicolae Grigorescu, Frederic Storck, Ion Jalea, Oscar
Han, and Victor Brauner, arguably one of the most important collections
in the country in it's number of top artists.
Local Treasures
As to be expected, one of the highlights are local paintings
of the Danube Delta region by local artists, as well as a few surprises
such as an oil of Queen Marie's beloved Balcic seaside town of Southern
Dobrogea (ceded to Bulgaria by the Nazis in 1940).
The building itself is worth a few photos, built 18 years
before Romania was gifted Dobrogea by Russia as war spoils after finally
defeating the Ottomans. The Turkish architect, Işmail Paşa,
managed to meld regional construction norms with Ottoman empire grandeur.
2 Grigore Antipa Street, next to the Delta Hotel.
+40 (240) 513 249
Open daily except Mondays, 8am - 4pm, later in summer months.
The Folk Art and Ethnographic Museum as been home to
numerous exhibits over the years showcasing the popular art and customs
of Dobrogea.
The ethnographic collection displays over 6,400 pieces
of local interest including traditional farm implements for rearing
animals, for fishing, brass objects and the like.
The folk art collection features woven tapestries and
decorative linens, as well as ornamental jewellery. The museum also runs the Panait Cerna Memorial House
for the famed Dobrogean, as well as the Panaghia House in Babadag further
south from Tulcea, where there is a good collection of oriental art.
Tulcea Mementos
What trip to Romania would be complete without a few souvenirs
to mail back home before you leave?
At the Artisan Store,
You can find traditional objects with national and local motifs,
folk costumes and textiles, icons carved from wood, wooden
sculptures, local ceramics, and traditional woven Danube Delta items
made from the local bullrushes, and wicker craftwork too!
MAGAZIN DE ARTIZANAT, Str. Isaccei, Nr. 12.
+41 (740) 214 883, Open Daily except Sundays until 7pm weekdays, 2pm
Saturdays
Just up Isaccei street you can find various works
of art are for sale at the
Tulcea Art Gallery, which features permanent and rotating
displays of local artist, as well as a good selection of artworks
for sale.
GALERIA DE ARTA TULCEA (Uniunea
Artistilor Plastici), Str. Isaccei, Bl. M1
Open weekdays until 5pm.
The Dobrogean Village Museum
If there is one type of ethnographic display which is
generally well done in Romania, it is the village museum, displaying
and preserving traditional peasant ways, wares and handicraft.
The Dobrogean Village Museum of
Enisala (a community
south of Tulcea past the airport) features peasant
households conserved as they were found, highlighting the traditions
and daily ways of life of the Northern Dobrogean people of the land,
including pens for the animals, traditional sheds, a peasant kitchen
with the traditional summer oven, granary and water well.
#4, 9 Mai Street next to the Reiffeisen Bank.
+40 (204) 516 204, Open daily except Mondays from 8am to 4pm
Leisure Time in Tulcea
If you do need to overnight in Tulcea,
or are spending a few days there for whatever reason, it's a good
idea to live like the locals do, visiting the local
piaţa markets for your picnic lunches, and checking out the
local life.
Due to the wide bend in the Danube River at Tulcea,
the good sand collects on the northern side, in the Tudor
Vladimirescu quarter. Home to only about 400 of
Tulcea's 90,000 residents, the sleepy little nook gives a village
feel to your lazy day in Tulcea. Shop for your picnic lunch on
the "city" side,
go down to the riverfront near the main square (Piaţa
Republicii) and catch the ferry (cheap) and enjoy your morning
on the river bank at Tudor Vladimirescu, watching the river traffic and the city come to life, it's really
quite entertaining watching the various weird and wonderful river
craft go by.
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Enjoy a walk
through a Tulcean neighbourhood to
understand the real pace of the old river town
The photo immediately preceding this notice is Copyright (c)2005 - 2008 Rest
Romania SRL, All rights reserved.
Photo:
© REST ROMÂNIA
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Wine in
Dobrogea
Mainly red grapes are grown in the
maritime zone
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Tulcea still has residual traditions
from the Turkish days, and pastries in particular can be a very
pleasant surprise.
Comparison shop between a few
bakeries until you find the perfect treats. Take some photos
to show the folks back home what REAL baking is like too!
During summer months, Tulcea is a very
good town to follow your nose if you're a bit peckish. Point
yourself to the riverfront, and listen for the sizzle of mici at a
terasa, and keep your eyes peeled for any flume of telltale brown
smoke and steam coming from a traditional little grill.
A Good Dinner and Good Wine
If you insist on spending a motza on
dinner, head for any of the top hotels, which all have competent
restaurants, some with great river views. A few
top-notch restaurants also congregate around the Hotels Delta,
Egreta, and other stalwarts of western life.
The area around Tulcea grow red grapes for table
wines, and a bit further to the west upriver, a few white grapes are
also grown. In the region extending down to
Babadag, the area around Tulcea along with the more
well-known Murfatlar region around Medgidia
to the south make up one of Romania's six and
most maritime vine growing regions. Ask at the tourist centre
in the ARBDD building about possibly seeing a local grower if you're
interested.
Indeed where you have open plains, a Mediterranean climate and colourful
monasteries left and right, why not a few grape vines to make the day
perfect?
They realised the soil was great around
Niculiţel in 1954 and stuck some vines in
the ground, now producing white wines for the booming export market
such as Aligoté, Italian style Riesling, and White Fetească.
See more of this great little winery now!
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By Romanian-Lippovan Poet
Nichita Danilov
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Order New & Used Online:
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Rest
Romania Recommended Reading
by Nichita Danilov, translated from the Romanian by
Sean Cotter
The people of Romanian poet Nichita Danilov, the Lippovans (Lipoveni), were driven from Russia
as Orthodox Church dissenters over two hundred years ago. Settling in
Romania along the Prut River and in the Danube Delta, they have maintained
strong religious traditions. Danilov's contribution to contemporary
Romanian poetry is to combine a historically rooted spirituality with
a surrealist poetics. The result has made Danilov an important voice
in Romanian literature.
Danilov's spiritual heritage gives these games a metaphysical depth.
He places himself in the tradition of mystics such as Meister Eckhart,
St. John of the Cross, and Pseudo-Dionysius.
Second-Hand Souls represents Danilov's attempts at capturing the
mystical relationship between Man and the Deity. It includes a selection
of his poetry, along with the original Romanian, and a selection of
his prose, offering us insight into a particularly Balkan combination
of history, spirituality, and innovative writing.
Sean Cotter has translated several books of Romanian poetry and
appeared in journals both in the United States and in Romania, including
Beacons, New Currents, Translation Review, Romania literari and Observator
cultural. He is currently finishing his dissertation on Romanian and
American Modernist Translation.
ISBN 8086264084 156
pp., 145 x 205mm , softcover poetry & prose (the poetry
bilingual) See Romania Travel books and videos available
in
America
and UK |
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Tulcea: Gateway to the
Delta
As an English-speaking tourist, a natural first stop
on your Delta tour is at the ARBDD (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve
Administration) information centre in Tulcea, where you'll
find helpful English-speaking staff.
The Tulcea mayor's office runs the information centre
and highlights the stunning Danube Delta eco-system, which begins at Tulcea.
The centre can arrange tours by boat and by land of the immediate Danube
Delta area, as well as arranging for permits for entry into the Danube
Delta Biosphere Reserve (recently raised to
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The Danube Delta Headquarters and the Riverboat
Hotel Hemingway
The long and luxurious Riverboat
Hemingway docked in front of the ARBDD Danube Delta
Biosphere Reserve Administration headquarters, where
you'll find a great information centre for your Delta
holiday!
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(Scroll left-right for full
boat length)
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The photo immediately preceding this notice is Copyright (c)2005 - 2008 Rest
Romania SRL, All rights reserved.
Photo:
© REST ROMÂNIA
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The ARBDD Delta Reserve office (above) approves hunting and fishing licenses,
and can point you to designated trails for tourists. Some areas are indeed out-of-bounds
for tourism, and some times of the year are restricted for fishing and
hunting as well.
The centre can help you find good camping areas in the
Delta (officially allowed at Crişan, Murighiol
and around Lake Roşu), as well as guide you in
the right direction to find current good restaurants, terraces and clubs
in Tulcea.
Also known as the Museum of the Danube Delta, you'll
find the most important species of flora and fauna of the Danube Delta
Biosphere Reserve here.
The lower level contains the primary attraction of the
museum, the aquarium which houses the collection of Danube fish, amphibians,
reptiles and aquatic invertebrates. It doesn't exactly have the
wow factor of the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, which deals
with similar delta displays (there for the Mississippi), but is worthwhile,
especially for the displays on the formation of the delta. Curiously,
there are also some species from the Atlantic and Indian oceans through
in for fun.
32 Progresului Street next to the St. Nicholas Cathedral.
+40 (240) 515 866, open daily except Mondays from 8am to 4pm
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Ducks of a Different Colour in the Delta
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The photo immediately preceding this notice is Copyright (c)2005 - 2008 Rest
Romania SRL, All rights reserved.
Photo:
© REST ROMÂNIA
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Listed below are some local agents who can help you with bookings and organize local tours in the Tulcea area.
  0240-536.726
0240-515.965 0240-511279 FAX: +40 (240) 511279 0240-519214 FAX: +40 (240) 519214 0240-521.781 FAX: +40 (240) 521 781 0240-517.836 FAX: +40 (240) 517 636 FAX: +40 (204 514 753 0240-512.496 FAX: +40 (240) 516 842 0240-518.894 FAX: +40 (240) 518 953 0240-521624 FAX: +40 (240) 521 624 0240-51.96.18 FAX: +40 (240) 51 57 53 0240-51.50.91 FAX: +40 (240) 51 50 91 Transworld, Str. Mahmudiei, nr. 13 (langa Romtelecom), in Tulcea 0240-515.155 Balkan Tour, Strada Isaccei, nr. 97, Foaier Sala Polivalenta in Tulcea (02) 4051-5035 +40 (240) 513360
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In
County Tulcea
