Dobruja

Dobruja, the south-eastern corner of Romania between the Danube and the Black Sea, is the country's oldest inhabited land and perhaps its most diverse. Here the river ends its journey of nearly three thousand kilometres in the Danube Delta, a vastness of channels, lakes and reed beds inscribed on the UNESCO list and declared a biosphere reserve — home to hundreds of bird species, from pelicans to spoonbills.

Landscapes and history

The Black Sea coast alternates broad beaches and lively resorts with wild shores and lagoons. Here rose the oldest cities on Romanian soil — the Greek colony of Histria, founded in the seventh century BC, and Callatis (Mangalia), whose ruins tell of Hellenic merchants and Roman legionaries. To the north, the Măcin Mountains, among the oldest in Europe, have worn down into granite hills clad in steppe grass, an arid and silent landscape unique in the country.

Flavour and reason to go

Dobrujan cooking smells of fresh fish — brined fish, the creamy storceag soup, the flaky Dobrujan pie — with Turkish and Tatar influences, a legacy of the Ottoman centuries. A traveller comes to Dobruja for the wildness of the Delta, for the traces of ancient civilisations and for the mingling of cultures that makes this a Romania apart, open toward the sea.