Modern city with a mixed history
Published in Bucharest Business Week, Mar 1998
I once got stuck out at sea in a hired dinghy in the sheltered bay of Constanta’s tourist beach. Panic descended on my two friends and myself as we were unable to propel our craft more than two meters in the same direction. My co-mariners ended up jumping in the water and pushing the boat as they swam, while I made feeble attempts to steer with the oars. Back on the silver beach at last, we sat drinking Mirinda orange and catching the rays, while Jessica Jay’s “Casablanca” blared out of the PA. On subsequent visits I have realized that this is a fairly comprehensive way to waste a day in what is perhaps Romania’s most interesting city.
Constanta’s tourist area may be a cut above the solar system of prefab resorts further down the coast, but the city itself is buzzing with life and full of history. It is the capital of Dobrogea, a balmy zone that has been in the Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires and joined the 16-year-old Romania in 1878. In eight AD Latin poet Ovid was exiled here for misdemeanors unknown. Unfortunately the man who brought us Icarus and Pygmalion found the place less than inspiring, but this hasn’t stopped citizens lovingly erecting a statue of him in the main square. Other relics of the Roman age include ruins next to the awesome Orthodox cathedral. Elsewhere, a distinctly Turkish flavor suffuses the streets and there are several mosques, the most impressive of which is also Romania’s first ever concrete building. Fans of Christian architecture will find churches of several denominations in Constanta. The communist era is represented by a futuristic fountain near the station and a large female figure, representing progress or something of the sort, with generic proletarians toiling behind her, in the park. Now in magnificent disrepair, this sculpture and its pavilion are much-favored by skateboards, roller-skaters and graffiti artists. The famous seaside casino on its nest of wavebreakers and the palatial dry dock rising among container ships recall the brief golden age Constanta shared with the rest of Romania around the turn of the century.
But Constanta is also an extremely modern city. With a strategic location on the Black Sea, it is Romania’s largest commercial port and the headquarters of the navy, while the many glittering bank buildings testify to its burgeoning role as a business and financial center. It is also developing as a tourist destination, being included on the package-tour routes of an increasing number of western operators. There is no shortage of night spots and restaurants offering European and Middle-Eastern fare, besides the obligatory fast-food joints. The well-stocked naval, art and archeological museums ensure you won’t be bored on a rainy day. If the sun shines, you can take a stroll past the imposing admiralty building and along the generous promenade, looking out across what Yeats called “that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.” Dolphins also grin out at you from the ubiquitous advertising placards for Radio Contact, one of Romania’s coolest radio stations, which is broadcast from Constanta.
If you set out from Bucharest, Constanta is at the other end of one of Romania’s best roads or a three-hour train trip that includes a good view of the Cernavoda bridge and power station. The best value hotels are Tineretului on Blvd. Tomis and Intim on Str. Titulescu, down the road from Constanta’s most celebrated restaurant, Casa cu Lei. With the weather turning sunnier, any time in the next few months would be a good time to visit. Pack the camera - and don’t hire a rowing boat.
