The Constanta County

The Archaeologic Museum has a rich collection of Roman statues. Two of them are special: the one of Fortuna Goddess and Pontos God, the two protectors of the town, and the one of Glicon Snake. All of them were discovered in 1962 under the old railway station, after they survived to the invasion of the Avars (the VII-th century A.C.). Also here the tourists can see a Roman mosaic and visit a hall dedicated to Ovidius, a Roman poet, who lived in exil in Tomis between 8 - 17 A.C. After it was destroyed the town was forgotten for 1200 years and only King Carol I gave it a new life at the end of the XIX-th century as a port at the Black Sea and as a resort. Some fine buildings, a casino, hotels were built.

Of the Roman town of Tomis there are only a part of the wall of the town and the Butcher`s Tower (the VI-th century). In an open-air exhibition in the Victory Park there are some columns and amphores too. Other ruins are in Histria, along the seashore, and in Adamclisi. The Ottoman domination is marked in Constanta by the Mahmud II's Mosque and the Genovese lighthouse from the XIII-th century is still working nearby the pleasure port.

It is pleasant to walk along the seashore or to spend the time at the Casino built in Rococo style. Just in front of the Casino there is the Aquarium which exhibits flora and fauna of the Biack Sea. In Constanta there are also a Dolphinarium with daily shows and a Planetarium.

The airport is 24 km far from Constanta. In summer there are flies to the main European towns. To Bucharest there are daily flies as well as a number of eleven trains which cover the distance between the two cities in two hours and half. The railway from Constanta goes on to the North, to Tulcea, the start point of the Danube Delta with six trains daily. Other fourteen trains go to South, to Mangalia daily too.

The Constanta county is situated on the Southern Dobrudja Plateau. The climate is a temperate continental one.

The Danube Delta is its border on a length of 37 km to the West, and to the East the Constanta county is limited by the Black Sea. The county is crossed from West to East by the Danube - Black Sea Canal which is 64.2 km long. The main ports on the Danube River are: Ostrov, Oltina, Cernavoda and Harsova.

The port of Constanta is situated on the Western coast of the Black Sea at about 182 sea miles far from Bosphorus and about 85 sea miles far from the town of Sulina where the Danube flows into the Black Sea.

According to the last census, the population of this county is of 748,044 inhabitants, Constanta being on the fourth place in Romania. Administrativetlly, the Constanta county has three municipalities: Constanta (capital city), Medgidia and Mangalia, as well as eight towns.