Mamaia Resort

Mamaia is the largest resort on Romania's Black Sea coast, in Constanța County, about 5 km north of the city centre, to which it belongs administratively. It is built on a coastal sand bar separating the Black Sea from the Siutghiol liman, whose name comes from the Turkish "süt-göl," the milky lake. The bar runs roughly 8 km long and is only 300 metres wide in its southern stretch; to the north, after sand replenishment works, the width of dry land has grown considerably. The beach is covered with very fine sand, part mineral and part shell, though the replenished sectors hold a higher proportion of shell fragments. Flora and fauna are sparse: Dobrujan steppe, reed beds, aquatic plants, and stands of oak, willow, and poplar, with a predominantly fish-based fauna. The site was undeveloped until 1906. That year saw the first wooden cabins, gathered under two pavilions crowned with gazebos, and a pier reaching into the sea. The opening took place in August 1906, on the initiative of Constanța's mayor, Ion Bănescu, to the designs of the landscape architect E. Recont. The relocation of the "sea baths" northward followed the port's expansion over the beaches south of the city. To ease access for visitors, a railway line was laid between Constanța station and the resort, along the route now occupied by Mamaia Boulevard; the line disappeared in the 1960s. The interwar years marked the first major phase of development, and the communist era the second, with dozens of hotel complexes raised, some still in use today. The resort now counts more than 60 hotels and a capacity of over 20,000 beds. Radio Vacanța, the coast's radio station, has broadcast since 1966, from May to October, in five languages. The cable car, opened on 16 July 2004 after an investment of roughly 3.5 million euros, links the Casino area with the Perla Hotel over a route of about 2 kilometres, covered in seven minutes at a height of 50 metres. From above, one sees the beach, the hotels, Lake Siutghiol, and the skyline of Constanța all at once. Other attractions include the Aqua Magic water park at the southern end and the Holiday Village on the border with Constanța. Lake Siutghiol, to the west, is 7.5 km long, 2.5 km wide, and covers roughly 1,900 hectares. Water skiing and yachting are practised on it, and off the town of Ovidiu lies Ovidiu Island, about two hectares in size, home to a restaurant. Between 2013 and 2014, the resort's promenade was modernized through an investment of over 10 million euros, funded by the Regional Operational Programme. Mamaia is worth visiting for its unusual geography, a narrow ribbon of sand with the sea on one side and a 1,900-hectare liman on the other, allowing a shift within minutes from surf to freshwater watersports, and for the density of tourist infrastructure accumulated over a century.