Danube Delta by bike and boat

Argamum Stronghold

Orgame Stronghold/Argamum situated at 6 km east from the Jurilovca village, in the place called “Dolojman” or “La Cetate” (“at the Stronghold”). Archeological researches that took place here between 1926 and 1932 and from 1965 continuously permitted the discovery of some important monuments and the drawing of the stronghold’s history for more than 12 centuries of existence. The stronghold, the first settlement on nowadays Romania’s territory mention in a antique writing ( Hecataios Periegesis) was founded in the middle of the VIIth century BC by the Greeks from Asia Minor with at least one generation before the Istros stronghold/Histria in an area with trace of inhabitance since the Bronze Era and the firs Iron Era. Inside the stronghold there were researched and partly restaurated a series of public and private buildings from the V-VII centuries: “the preatory”, the basilica with three vessels and a chapel (conventionally called the Number 3 basilica) basilica from the central sector (basilica 2) the biggest from the argamense basilicas, basilica with only one vessel (basilica 1) houses and parts of the streets’ system. A forth basilica, of short dimensions, with only one vessel was discovered at aprox 1.3 km from the West Gate

Dolosman Cliff

The Dolosman Cape is a rocky promontory placed on the confluence of the Razim and Golovita lakes. The limestone Shore is the only one of this kind from around the romania’s seaside area. It is 3 km long and has a hight of 29m. The abrupt continues till Dolosman hill at 63 m high. The watching turret place here affers a spectacular view over the entire lagoon.

Iancina Cape

Nature reserve covers an area of 130 ha and is located on the territory of Jurilovca. The scientific value of the reserve is that it conserves fossil coast of the Black Sea coastal lagoons before closing, with an original look with the rugged coast eroded into spectacular shapes Razim Lake waters, where several small caves.

Calugara Cape

Nature reserve covers an area of 130 ha and is located on the territory of Jurilovca. The scientific value of the reserve is that it conserves fossil coast of the Black Sea coastal lagoons before closing, with an original look with the rugged coast eroded into spectacular shapes Razim Lake waters, where several small caves.

Landing point

Get off the boat and follow the bike path.

Grindul Lupilor (Wolf Sandbank)

Is a protected area, located in the south of the Danube Delta reserve.

Gura Portitei

Gura Portitei is a piece of sand that separates Golovita lake from the Black Sea. Its name comes from the fact that until 40 years ago there was a link between the lagoon and the sea. Nowadays in the area there is a turistical complex a canton of ARBDD a meteo station and a sea signaling lighthouse.

Jurilovca

The village is placed on the embankment of the Golovita lake. The village’s connection with the lake is made by a 800m long canal. The parish of Jurilovca was founded by lippovans at the beginning of the XIXth century first document about it dating from 1826. Although at the beginning it was just a sshorel hamlet the village developed at the end of the XIXth century into an important fishing centre of the Delta. Lippovans are ethnically russians but in what concerns thier denomination they are Old Style Ortodox (starovers). This denomination is the result of the nikoniene reform in 1654 Nikon the Russian Ortodox Church’s Patriarch initiated a religious reform that sought the alignement of russian rite to the rest of the Ortodox world. The outcome was the division of russian society into nikoniens (the ones that accepted the reform) and Starovers ( of Old Faith, that rejected the reform). The last ones because of the persecution migrated outside russia some of them in romania (the north of Moldavia and Danube Delta). Nowadayas Jurilovca is the biggest fishermen community from Delta a center of collecting and processing of the fish as well as a turistical attraction Its population is 86% lippovan russians and only 14% romanians.

Salcioara

The village is placed on the south western part of the Razim lake in an area limited by the Iancina head In north and Dolosman head In south. The relief is a contact area between low hills (Ceardac, Dolosman Iancina) with 50-60m highs and the piece of plane that outsides the lake. In the village’s perimetre were identified traces of a roman fortress unexplored yet Ad Salices (at salcii) the village was inhabited in the XIXth century by bulgarians romanians and turks with a secnificant growth in population after 1840 when the cityhall and the church (1845) were built, the school being built later (1884). In the Lahovari dictionary there were mentioned 387 bulgarian families 3 jewish 2 romanian and one tatar-gipsy. At the village’s school where there was only one teacher there were registered 73 bulgarian pupils and only 3 romanian ones. Its old name Caramanchioi is surelly of turkish origins but translated differently by diffrerent authors. In principiu It would mean „the village of the black man” but M.D. Ionescu translated it as „the sunrise village” and Gr. Danescu thinks that it came from Caramanlau a city-port That dissapeared because of the colmatare Of the gulf between Iancina and Dolosman heads.

Museum of Peasantry Household

The museum of Peasantry Household from Enisala represents a synthesis of traditional household from Northern Dobrogea, the area of Razim Lake, from the beginning of the XXth century. The architectural assembly contains the house with chiller and some annex typical for this area: the kitchen and the summer cooker, the anishores’ stable, the cote lean-tos the fountain. There can be seen: agricultural instruments, dobrogenian painted cart, fishing tools, cooperage tools and products, smithy, culture of bees, pottery, instruments for house making textiles’ industry. The inside of the house reveals the beauty and the wealth of the traditional fabrics being organized in its traditional variant.

Enisala

The village is placed in a outside region of Babadag highland With hills that end up abruptly into Babadag lake and that can reach 110m in Eracleea. The archeological traces state the existence of a traco-getic settlement fro the first Iron Age. In 1330 it is mentioned under the Fenikah name (probably derived from turkish Enikale) in the writting of an arab geograph and pilgrim Ibn Batutah. In the village’s surroundings there is a byzantine stronghold from the XIIIth century called Eracleea (Heracleea) probably built by the genovian merchandizers that controled the comerts on the Black Sea. The village most surelly developed in the same time with the stronghold the last being a refuge place in case of danger. About the village’s inhabitants the teacher I. Chircea shows that the villagers,exclusively romanians are coming partly from Transilvania the village of Sercaia others from Moldavia (after the Principates’ Union) others from Bessarabia and partly locals from Dobrogea.

Heracleea Stronghold

Heracleea Stronghold placed on the hill that dominates the surroundings of Enisala village, at the crossroads of some important water and land roads. The stronghold was built by the Byzantine Imperial power and by the Genovian commercial one at the end of the XIIIth and the beginning of the XIVth century. During Mircea cel Batran’s ruling the stronghold was owned by Tara Romaneasca and at the end of his ruling when Dobrogea was conquered by the Turks, an ottoman military guard house established in the stronghold. As an architectural element the main gate’s bastion is imposing, with a double arcade followed by a blind one. In the 90’s the stronghold was the object of an ample restoration process.

Sarichioi

The village is placed in the north-west of the Razim lake on a plane that outsides the lake’s shore at the end of some low hills (Movila Zebil 93m) that lengthen in south the Pietros Hill and in thee ast Movila Mare. The name of the village is of turkish origins (sari=yellow, chioi=village) and it is due tot he village’s aspect during the turkish occupation when the houses were built out of ceamur And covered with reed Yellow color being predominant. The village was founded on the nowadays place in the XVIth century or maybe even earlier being mentioned in 1575 in a turkish document with its actual name. In the first phasesof its inhabitence it ius possible that the turks were majoritarian although other testimonies show that lippovan russians are the ones that founded the villlage. According to other information lippovans russians came here in the XVIII-XIXth centuries chased away from the Russian Empire by the religious persecution that they were put up with. They slavonized the name of the village that lasted until 1850 after which it came to its original name. At the 2002 census The village had a population of 3722 inhabitants. Beside the majority of lippovan russians there were also 370 romanians 8 maghiars 5 turks and 4 ukranians.

Sabangia

The village is placed on the north eastern shore of the Raze Lake on a low field (under 50m) on the road that comes from Tulsa passing through Abigail. On the meaning of its name there are numerous hypotheses all saying that it is of Turkish origins. One of them sustains that this name means “ploughmen” M.D. Ionescu’s hypothesis is also believable and says that the name means “wildness” or “wild place” the view from around the Razim lake being a strong enough argument in order to sustain such a hypothesis. Acknowledgeable is also the translation of the teacher Omer Memmune who believed that it must “a place for assembled straws”. It is believed that the Turks were the ones that founded the village in the XVIIIth century in order to leave it later after the 1829 war. Starting with 1850 it is repopulated with Romanians (firstly with shepherds) their number increasing after 1877 when the first buildings were built the church (1878) and the school (1891).

Agighiol

The village is placed on the northen part of the Razim lake. It was established in the XVIIIth centuryby the turks that gave it this mane (hagi=saint, ghiol=lake). Some opinions say that the name of the village comes from „bitter lake” (agi=bitter). The village of Agighiol is known all over the world as an important triassic fossilist point. The fossilist point from Agighiol placed on the Pietrosu Hill has a surface of 3 ha. On its terrytory has been discovered a graveyard that has a princiar tumb archeological dated from the IV-IInd centuris BC. In the west of the village there is a locust tree Forest that occupies about 200 ha.

Paleologic and geologic reservation

The paleologic and geologic reservation from Agighiol the only reservation of sea fossiles from europe is well-known for the reachness in fossile fauna especially amonits And for the fossile point with ichtiosauri recently discovered by proffesor Eugen Gradinaru.

Malcoci

The village was founded in 1843 by 25 German families, making it the first of a number of villages founded by German colonists in Dobrogea, led by Ignatiu Hoffart. They called the place Malkotsch. They were not coming from Germany, but rather from Moldova and Transnistria, part of the Russian Empire at the time. Back then, Dobrogea was not yet part of Romania, so these people were the only German population living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Following the Turkish laws, they contributed greatly to the development of Dobrogea. They were autonomous, free to go about their business; their only obligation was to pay their taxes. After the Romanian Independence War and the reunification of Dobrogea with the home country, in many German settlements, Romanian war heroes were given land. In many of thee villages, Romanian mayors were put in office. Although some Germans left Malcoci and other places, most of them continued to live and prosper here until 1940. That year around 16000 people from all over Dobrogea were forced to relocate in Germany, under the Heim ins Reich program. Only about 1600 Germans remained. The Church in Malcoci There are a few buildings that still stand as a testament of the hundred years that the Germans lived here. None is more imposing than the Catholic church which stands tall and is visible from every point in the village.

Nufaru

The historical name of Nufaru village is Prislava; within the entire village central area and its surroundings vestiges of a flourishing X Century civilization can be observed: the Prislava Fortress. The most ancient traces demonstrate that the settlement does exists since before the year 1000 after Christ. The archeological researches revealed the existence of an important urban center during the X-XIV centuries. At the beginning of XX Century the existence of some important precincts walls and a rich archeological material, as traces of the Iron Age followed by vestiges of the Roman and Roman-Byzantian Age, were signaled.

Proslavitza Stronghold

Archaeological research carried out on the arm of St. George, in the village Nufaru since 1978, revealed the existence of a major urban center X-XIV centuries, sheltered by high walls of a fortification fundamentis (from scratch) by Byzantines at the end of the tenth century.

Ceatal

The name of the "Ceatal" is of Turkish origin and means "fork". It owes its existence to the formation of the two arms of the Danube, St. George and Sulina. The St. George arm is formed around the 8900-7200 BC and completes its shape VIII century a.d., and Sulina around 7200-7000 years BC, adjusting and during the tenth century a.d. Because these places savagery and frequent floods Ceatalul was not inhabited and there was an interest in migrating populations and frequent foreign rule in whose hand fell over time.

Partizani

The village is located on the right fluvial sand bank of Sulina arm. The village was founded on 26 July 1899 by the family of shepherds from Valea Nucarilor, which partially changed their old occupation with fishing.

St. George branch

Danube’s Sf. Gheorghe branch has a lenght of 109 km and it is the most meandered One of the river’s three branches. On the branche’s right shore there are many settlements like Nufarul, Bestepe, Mahmudia, Murighiol, Dunavatul de Sus. On the left shore in the actual Delta there are the villages Ilganii de Jos, Bălteni and Sf. Gherghe at 3 km away from the flowing of the branch in the Black Sea.

Sulina Branch

The Sulina Branch, shortest of the three branches, stretches 42 miles from Tulcea to Sulina. Although it carries only 18% of the Delta's total water flow, Sulina is the main navigation route for passenger and commercial traffic. A canal was dug between 1880 and 1902 to facilitate river traffic, shortening the natural course of the Sulina Branch and allowing for easier access to villages in the Delta.

Gorgova

Gorgova is an old fishing settlement, founded around 1877 by ethnic Russians Lippovan. Populating was done gradually, with the russians arrived and romanian. Lippovan Russians were fugitives from Russia, who left their country because of religious persecution and military service too long they had to do.

Boarding point

Crisan

Crisan village is located right on the Sulina branch, on a narrow river bank. It is one of the youngest settlements in the county, arising from the merging of smaller fishing villages, around 1900.The village has a single row of houses arranged along the beam, the only street of the village is on the river bank.

Caraorman

Caraorman is an old fishermen’s village located on the sandbank between the Sulina and Sfantu Gheorghe channels. The name is of Turkish origins and it means “Black forest”, due to the vast oak forest nearby. A good portion of it is made of four centuries old trees that leave a dark, unsettling shadow. It is one of the places in the Danube Delta where people have preserved most of their traditions, cultural heritage and way of living.

Boarding point

Caraorman Forest

On a sandy terrain of marine origin a forest of oaks has developed, whose name, Caraorman, signifies in Turkish - The Black Forest. The old oaks with impressing branches and rich vegetation create such a dark shadow, that there are some very dark places which named the forest(The Black Forest). The creepers along with other climber plants such as the wild vine, the ivy, the hops and the tendril give this forest a subtropical aspect. In 1940 both Caraorman Forest and Letea Forest have been declared nature's monuments, being considered strictly protected areas.

Arinisul Erenciuc

Ariniş Erenciuc is a protected area of national interest. Natural area is a wetland (lakes, swamps, flood plains and ridges, woodland) as a compact protection for communities alder trees (Alnus glutinosa), which provides shelter and food and nesting conditions for White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla )

Dunavatul de Jos

The village is placed in the eastern extremity of the old Duvesselt peninsula. Because of this the acces in the Danube Delta is easier through the Lipoveni and Duvesselt canals. It is said to be founded around 1700 by Russian and Romanian fishermen the last ones leaving and returning for several times. From the Austria Franz Mihalovici’s (1873) information we found out that “If it takes to the left the biggest of this branches Hiderlias Bogaz (Sf. Gheorghe n.n.) then the flow will continue another 3 hours on several very short crooks Until a Cossacks village will be met, Duvesselscz on the right shore, a high and bumpy Shore, village which because of the length and big distance between groups of houses seems to constitute 4 villages generally called Duvesselscz.” It is confirmed the foundation of Duvesselt village by the zaporojeni Cossacks. Later information the one from Gr. Danescu (1896) show that the whole population of the village (280 persons) was Russian. Russians founded the first school (1891) as well as two churches (1881 and 1890). Population: in 2002 there were 710 inhabitants out of which 53% Romanians 46.8% Ukrainians and the rest of 0.2% lippovan-russians.

Razim Lake

The Razim-Sinoe lagoon is to be found in the South of the Danube Delta representing 20% of its total surface. It is the geographical biological historical and ethnographical complexity what makes this zone unique. The views, the diversity of birds and fish species, the archeological traces and the ethno-cultural multitude make from the lagoon and its surroundings maybe the most spectacular turistic point from around the Romanian’s seacoast zone. Nevertheless, the area is not that popular, the majority of those who visit it being formed from the year by year faithful. From this reason, our main objective is to make these lagoon’s magnificent places notorious and help you know them better without spoiling them, keeping their wildness untouched.