Danube Delta
Europe's best-preserved delta, the water maze of Dobrogea.
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Danube Delta, in full
Where the Danube ends its 2,860 km journey through Europe, the river splits into three arms - Chilia, Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe - and builds, bank by bank, Romania's youngest land. The Danube Delta is still growing today, by several meters a year, where the alluvium meets the sea.
It is Europe's best-preserved delta: more than 5,800 km² of canals, lakes, dykes, reed beds and forests, home to more than 300 species of birds and 130 species of fish. Pelicans, cormorants, egrets and bald eagles live here alongside Lipovan, Ukrainian, and Romanian fishing communities in villages that can only be reached by boat.
Since 1991, the Delta has been a Biosphere Reserve under the aegis of UNESCO. The Letea forest, with its vines and wild horses, is Romania's oldest natural reserve (1938). Delta taught us the lesson we apply in software: complex ecosystems only work when each part knows its role.
Timeline
Danube Delta through time
From the making of the landscape to today, a timeline.
The beginning of the delta
After the last glaciation, the Danube begins to deposit its alluvium in the then gulf of the sea. The country's youngest soil begins to grow.
Herodot describes the mouths of the Danube
"The father of history" writes about Istru, the river with many mouths, already known to Greek navigators.
European Commission of the Danube
After the Crimean War, the great powers establish the first modern international organization at Sulina to make the mouths of the river navigable.
Forest Letea
Letea, the subtropical forest between the dunes, with lianas and wild horses, becomes Romania's first nature reserve.
Biosphere Reserve
The Danube Delta enters the world heritage UNESCO; nature officially takes precedence.
Living Delta
Fishermen, birders and tourists share the same labyrinth of waters, where life flows to the rhythm of the water, not the clock.
To see
Landmarks of the region
Forest Letea
Subtropical forest on sand dunes, with vines and wild horses, Romania's first reserve.
Raised on sand dunes between the arms of Chilia and Sulina, Letea mixes centuries-old oaks with Mediterranean lianas, a landscape that seems detached from another climate. Several hundred wild horses live freely among the dunes - they can be seen from a distance without disturbing them. The visit is only with an authorized guide ARBDD, on water and on designated routes; free access by personal car to the dune is prohibited.
Letea becomes Romania's first nature reserve.
Strictly protected area, visitable only with an authorized guide.
Pelican colonies
The largest colony of common pelicans in Europe, on the lakes in the heart of the Delta.
The delta is home to Europe's largest colony of common pelicans, thousands of pairs nesting on floating islands in strictly protected areas. In the summer, you see them hovering in huge flocks over Fortuna, Merhei or Roșu lakes.
The colonies come under the strict protection of the Biosphere Reserve.
Thousands of pairs nest annually in the heart of the Delta.
Fishing villages
Mila 23, Crișan, Sfântu Gheorghe: Communities accessible only by water.
The villages of the Delta live to the rhythm of the water: houses with thatched roofs, lots tied to the gate, borș of fish for lunch. Mila 23 is the village of kayak champions, and Sfântu Gheorghe, at the mouth of the homonymous arm, hosts a film festival anchored between the sea and the Delta.
Lipovans founded fishing villages in the heart of the Delta.
Living communities accessible only by boat.
Arm Sulina
The navigable channel arranged by the European Commission of the Danube, the way of ships to the sea.
The shortest and straightest arm of the Danube was rectified and deepened by the European Danube Commission at the end of the 19th century, so that ships could go up the river. The passenger ships Tulcea-Sulina still operate on it today.
The European Commission rectifies and deepens the arm.
The only maritime waterway through the Delta.
Map
Landmarks on the map
Pins open a short preview. Details are on the place sheet.
Iarna, Delta e tăcută; verifică orarul navelor înainte. Sezon de Deltă: aprilie–octombrie
Explore the region
Further through Dobruja
Villages in this area
Pages from recent rounds, in the same area.
Sub-regions of Danube Delta
Macro-areas
Corector de sat
Dacă știi că un fapt de pe pagina asta e greșit, scrie-l. Redacția publică doar după verificare. Nu e chat.
Software rooted in these places
From the region of Danube Delta we build four free apps: iShopSync, Gym, iMemory and Daunomania.
See our apps