Crișan

Crișan is the seat of Crișan commune in Tulcea County, on the right bank of the Sulina branch (canal), between miles 10 and 15, about 50 km downstream of Tulcea. The commune, 380.7 km² in area, includes the villages of Crișan, Caraorman and Mila 23 and lies in the centre of the Danube Delta. The village stretches for more than 7 km along the canal, on a river ridge raised with the material dug out when the European Commission of the Danube cut the Sulina canal. At the 2021 census the village had 423 inhabitants and the commune 1,092 (Romanians, Russian Lipovans and Ukrainians). The village was officially founded in 1900 by the prefect of Tulcea County, Ioan Nenițescu, under the name "Carmen Sylva", with 44 Romanian families; it later merged with the village of Floriile. Until 1925 it belonged to Caraorman commune, then became a commune itself. The geologist Ion Simionescu, who passed by in 1928, described the reed-roofed houses and the obelisk raised by the village to mark the cutting of the great meander of the Sulina branch. In 1973 Crișan was declared, experimentally, a "tourist village", together with 13 other localities. Today Crișan is the main tourist hub of the central Delta, with guesthouses, a landing stage and a DDBRA information centre where access permits can be bought. It is linked to Tulcea and Sulina by fast and conventional passenger ships; in winter, when ice floes drift down the Danube, the village can be cut off. Several official DDBRA water routes start from Crișan: route 9 (Crișan → Lake Roșu → Sulina → Crișan), route 10 (Crișan → Mila 23 → Lake Trei Iezere → Crișan) and route 11 (Crișan → Magearu Canal → Sulina → Crișan); routes 1 and 2, starting from Tulcea, also pass through Crișan. To the south, the Crișan-Caraorman canal leads to Caraorman village, from where Caraorman Forest can be visited on trail D2. Any visit to the Biosphere Reserve requires the access permit issued by the DDBRA; it can be bought online (ddbra.ro), by SMS, at SelfPay terminals or at the DDBRA information centres in Crișan, Sulina and Murighiol. Children, pupils, students and pensioners receive it free of charge. Camping is allowed only at authorised sites. The village lies within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO site since 1991, Ramsar site) and in the Natura 2000 sites ROSCI0065 Danube Delta and ROSPA0031 Danube Delta and Razim-Sinoie Complex. The commune's territory includes the strictly protected zone of Caraorman Forest. Did you know that the village's first name, "Carmen Sylva", was the literary pen name of Queen Elisabeth of Romania? At the inauguration the founding villagers sent a telegram to the King, and Elena Nenițescu, the prefect's wife, wrote to the Queen; the Queen replied that she was "deeply moved" and wished the new village prosperity. The founding act was to be copied on parchment and placed in the foundations of the church.