Constanţa

Introducing Constanţa

Constanţa is the gateway to Romania’s seaside activities. Romanians and tourists alike arrive by the train- and bus-load all summer. Sharp annual price hikes have made a trip here fairly expensive, even by Western European standards, though staying in private homes, camping or cramming into hotel rooms can ease expenses. However, with minor planning, an affordable visit can be easily arranged that will effectively pacify one’s need for sun, water sports and life-threatening amounts of clubbing.

While much of Romania’s largest port and third-largest city is adorned with the familiar wide boulevards and piles of concrete, there are equal parts that evoke romantic notions of ancient seafarers, the Roman poet Ovid and even the classic legend of Jason and the Argonauts (they fled here from King Aietes). Constanţa’s original name, Tomis, means ‘cut to pieces’– a reference to Jason’s beloved Medea, who cut up her brother Apsyrtus and threw the pieces into the sea near the present-day city.

Emperor Constantine fortified and developed the city and later renamed it after his sister. By the 8th century the city had been destroyed by invading Slavs and Avars. After Constanţa was taken by Romania in 1877, the town grew in importance, with a railway line being built to it from Bucharest. By the early 1900s it was a fashionable seaside resort frequented by European royalty.

The city beaches are more polluted than those in the resorts to the north and south, and areas away from the beach. Constanţa itself can seem devoid of people even in midsummer, as party-goers head to where the action is. However, the city offers a bit of every­thing: beaches, a picturesque Old Town, archaeological treasures and a peaceful Mediterranean air with the charm of dilapidated Venice back alleys. Its few excellent museums can be seen in an afternoon.

Constanţa hosts the annual National Romanian Folk Festival at the beginning of August. Constanţa Days are held around May 21; these days see concerts and general merry-making taking over the city.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009