Danube Delta

Europe's second largest river after Volga and the 26-th in the world with approximately 2.900 Km in length and over 800.000 sqKm, the basin size populated of about 80.000 people from ten countries – this is the calling card of the generous river which for millennia steadily fulfills the role of “the largest road”, known, appreciated and traveled, from the phoenician's ships to the motor vessels in our days.

Named Istros by the Argonauts or Danubius by the Romans or "king among rivers" by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Danube traverses through the Romanian territory the last 1075 Km ending her journey thru the Delta, the most representative of the old continent and one of the most complex in the world.

"Entered on our country's lands like thru an monumental triumphal arch, through Cazanelor narrow path, the Danube leaves thru the giant, somptuous, mirific fan of the Delta" (Geo Bogza)

It is an original place, unique in its own way: the youngest ground of Europe, neighbour with some of the oldest mountains of the planet (Macin, hercynian massif, about 400 million years), earth and water always in battle, always different, canals cobweb, sand banks, streams, forests with tropical aspect, dunes all in a ample, permanent metamorphose.

At the beginning it was an golf at the black sea, where 13.000 years ago an seacoast belt of alluvia started to form on the place occupied in our days from north to south of the sand banks: Jibrieni, Letea, Caraorman si Crasnicol.

The golf closed little by little and transformed into an liman where the alluvia brought by the river made the Delta.

An exotic landscape with over 32 different ecosystems, 1.668 species of trees and plants, with the richest ornithological fauna on the continent (more than 3864 species, among which unique colonies of pelicans) and ichthyological fauna (with around 160 species, from the Danube sturgeons, grey mullet and herring) and 325 species of birds (among the most known are white-tailed eagle, pelican, singing swan, cormorant, egret, crane). It is small wonder that UNESCO has designated the Delta a "Reservation of the Biosphere".

Today the Delta spreads between 3 branches from north to south: Chilia, Sulina and Sf. Gheorghe.

The Chilia branch detaches the river 11 Km upstream of Tulcea city. It's the youngest, the longest branch (120 Km) and the deepest with the largest flow.

17 Km downstream from Tulcea, in a place called Cotul Sf. Gheorghe, the other two branches separate – Sulina towards east and Sf. Gheorghe towards south-east . Sf.Gheorghe branch that marks the meridional frontier of the Delta is the oldest and devious of the branches.

Trought the places situated on this branch we can remind you :

• Nufarul at 13 km from Tulcea - shelters antic forttress vestigia.
• Mahmudia at 28 km from Tulcea - where we find ancient roman fortress vestigial.
• Sf. Gheorghe - the last port on the same name branch, at the river mouth. Here is found the wildest and biggest beach.

Here, in the birds and fishes empire, surrounded by waters, water lilies, willows and reeds, WE wait for you, the three and four stars Floating Hotel's team, Anastasia 1 and Anastasia 2.