About Tulcea

The Symposium will be held in the City of Tulcea, the administrative center of Tulcea County and port of the Lower Danube. It is the main gateway to the Danube Delta and one of the gates to the Cimmerian Dobrogea Geopark.

Tulcea is built on seven hills on the right bank of the Danube. It was founded in the 4th century BC under the name of Aegyssus, a name of Celtic origin derived from its legendary founder, Caspios Aegyssos. The city represented a strategic location especially during the Roman times, and at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, it was included in the Moesian defensive frontier system (Danubian Limes) as a military fort and port. Tulcea was first documented under its modern name in 1506 in Ottoman customs records, as an important centre for the transit trade. In 1878, after the end of the Russo-Turkish war, Tulcea became part of Romania along with the rest of Dobrogea.

As result of its tumultuous and troubled history, Dobrogea is a multiethnic mosaic. Along with Romanians, which form the majority of the population, several ethnic minorities are living here, although their number is diminishing lately: Lipovans, Roma, Turks, Ukrainians, Greeks, Aromanians (Macedo-Romanians), Italians, Tatarians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Germans, Jews. In Tulcea, these minorities lived in quarters, six of them still recognizable today. The yesteryear charm of the city comes from the several historical buildings that still exist, as well as from the harmony between the ethnic groups, which try to preserve their language, religion, customs and traditions, passed on from generation to generation.

One of the main attractions of the city, offering panoramic views on the Danube Delta and the Tulcea Hills, is the Monument of Independence erected on top of a hill. Next to it there are the ruins of Aegyssus fortress and the Museum of History and Archaeology.