A walk in Constanta

Constanta, a city on the Black Sea Coast, a place with hot summer days and bitterly windy winters is the fondest of my childhood memories. This makes it really hard to write a quick paragraph to introduce it. I’ll do my best to give you a feel for it and I hope you enjoy our virtual walk!

Constanta, originally called Tomis, was founded by Greek colonists in the 6th century BC. According to legend, Jason landed here with the Argonauts after finding the Golden Fleece.  Old Tomis was then conquered by the Romans in the first century BC, renamed Constantiana by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great and shortened to Constanta during the Ottoman era. During the 13th century, Italy, especially Genoese merchants, dominated the Black Sea and Constanta flourished, only to decline two centuries later under Turkish rule. It was only revived as a port and seaside resort in the 19th century by the King Carol.

We start our walk in the heart of old Tomis, at Piata Ovidiu (named after the Roman poet Ovid who was exiled to Tomis in 8AD and died here eight years later). A statue of Ovid stands in the middle of the square, right in front of the History Museum - the former City Hall. As you might all expect, we start the walk with a stopover (sorry, I couldn’t help it – emergency poetry stop!)

If you’ve ever been in love, do stop, as the statue's Latin inscription reads:

Here I lie, who played with tender loves,

Naso the poet, killed by my own talent.

O passerby, if you've ever been in love, let it not be too much for you to say:

May the bones of Naso lie gently.

(Tristia 3.3.73-76)

An excerpt from Tristia, a collection of five books of elegiac poetry composed by Ovid in exile in Tomis, it was one of the first poems I’ve learned (before I could read), as my grandfather use to stop and read it out loudly every time we passed this statue. We really need to get going, you can’t imagine how homesick this makes me feel!

Just behind the History Museum are the remnants of a stunning Roman mosaic. A vast complex on three levels linked the upper town to the harbour at the end of the 4th century (the seafront used to be a lot closer to the mosaic than it is nowadays). Until the 7th century it was the city's commercial centre, but today, only about a third of the original edifice remains. Archaeological vestiges prove the existence of workshops, warehouses and shops in the area. If you’re interested in Roman vestiges and monuments, you might like to take a short detour, as remains of the Roman public baths can still be seen nearby. If you walk to the baths, keep an eye open to spot Constanta’s distinct pink buses! That’ll certainly bring you a smile!

As you walk south of Piata Ovidiu you'll find the more impressive of Constanta's two working mosques, the Mahmudiye Masque, whose 55m (180ft) minaret is open to visitors (stop looking for my grandmother’s house, as it’s been demolished by the Communists ages ago). The vast Greco-Roman style Orthodox Cathedral, completed in 1895, is only slightly further on, and 100m or so beyond lies the seafront.

It’s been years now since I haven’t been walking along there, a favourite evening walk for both locals and tourists. There is a small Aquarium on the left hand side of the prom (a very small one, quite disappointing I should say, so don’t expect too much), with the much photographed Casino opposite. The Casino was completed between the two World Wars in Art Nouveau style; it has its own atmosphere, character and a wonderful view of the sea. It no longer welcomes gamblers, but it is very popular location often rented for weddings. Just beyond the Casino is The Genoese Lighthouse (Farul Genovez) built in 1860 by the Danubius and Black Sea Company to honour Genoese merchants who established a flourishing sea trade community here in the 13th century.

Keep walking North of Piata Ovidiu and you’ll find The Folk Art Museum. It hosts a collection of traditional costumes and handicrafts and it’s housed in a Moorish style building, similar to the city’s other mosque opposite.

A short walk from here brings you to the Archaeology Park named after the fragments of 3rd-century Roman City wall that runs through it and lots of other relics, including a Byzantine-era bastion known as Butchers’ Tower. Just south of the Park is the Romanian Navy Museum with very interesting exhibits chronicling the history of the sailing in the Black Sea.

I’d say it’s time to head north along Bulevardul Tomis, Constanta’s main commercial street. There are shops, cafés and restaurants and a large number of terraces close by on Stefan cel Mare Street. You must be tired by now, and this is city’s one pedestrian street, one of my favourite places in town, so do stop here for food and drinks! I recommend Turkish ;)

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