Ivan Patzaichin Danube Promenade, Tulcea

The Ivan Patzaichin Danube Promenade runs along the right bank of the Tulcea branch of the Danube, in the centre of the city of Tulcea. The city lies on this branch, halfway between the Chilia fork and the Sfântu Gheorghe fork, the points where the Danube splits into the arms of the Delta. Until 2014 the promenade was managed partly by the city hall and partly by the Galați Maritime Danube Ports Administration; in 2014 Tulcea County Council took it over for rehabilitation, and in 2019 the contract for modernising the promenade and the port, funded by the EU, was signed. Since 2021, after Ivan Patzaichin's death, the promenade has borne his name. On 8 September 2023 the Ivan Patzaichin Memorial was inaugurated here, an ensemble created by five artists who were friends of the champion: Mircea Cantor, Virgil Scripcariu, Teodor Graur, Dan Vezentan and Gyarfas Olah. The County Council presents it as the "gateway" to the Danube Delta and a starting point for visitors who set off for the Delta by kayak or other rowing boats. The promenade has the river passenger terminal and the pontoons from which passenger boats leave for the Delta, as well as the Tulcea Port Administration building. A few steps away are the Art Museum (the former Pasha's Palace) and the Aziziye Mosque, and from the waterfront you can see the Independence Monument on the hill. The promenade has also hosted festivals such as Rowmania Fest, the rowing boat festival started by the Ivan Patzaichin, Mila 23 Association and held in Tulcea since 2011. The promenade is managed by Tulcea County Council, which modernised it; it is not itself a listed monument. The historic buildings nearby are listed monuments (for example the Art Museum, LMI code TL-II-m-A-05973, and the Aziziye Mosque, LMI code TL-II-m-A-05984). Did you know that Ivan Patzaichin, born in the Delta village of Mila 23, won gold in the 1,000 m single canoe at the 1972 Munich Olympics even though he broke his paddle in the heats? He finished that race paddling with a piece of the canoe's floorboard, then won the repechage and the final. In all, he won four Olympic gold medals.