Sfântu Gheorghe Village

Sfântu Gheorghe is the only village of Sfântu Gheorghe commune in Tulcea County, lying on the left bank of the Sfântu Gheorghe branch, close to where it flows into the Black Sea. It is about 120 km from Tulcea by water and has no road link to the rest of the country. The commune covers 605.76 km² and had 639 inhabitants at the 2021 census, mostly Romanians with a Ukrainian minority. The fishing settlement appears as San Giorgio on the map of the Genoese Pietro Vesconte from 1318, and on older maps under the names Kidrillis, Cadîrlez or Catarlezi. According to the village's oral tradition, it was settled by fishermen who fled Russia in the time of Catherine II, then by Zaporozhian Cossacks and Lipovans; the Lipovans are said to have later left and founded Jurilovca and Sarichioi. The first Romanians came in 1810: shepherds from the Făgăraș area led by the head shepherd Niculea, after whom Grindul Nicu is said to be named. The first church, built in 1820, burned down in 1880 and again in 1896 and was rebuilt each time. A first 500 m dyke was built in 1942, and after the 1978 storm, when the village stood under water for three days, the dyke was extended to 6.5 km around the village. The village lived from fishing, and today tourism has become one of the main sources of income. The official ARBDD themed trail D8, the Natura Trail, is about 6 km long: it starts next to the passenger boat landing, follows the dyke past traditional houses with reed roofs and fences, passes German bunkers from the Second World War and reaches the Danube bank at the river mouth, then the beach and back through the village. Along the way you can see white and yellow water lilies, salt plants such as glasswort (Salicornia europaea), common terns, European rollers on the power lines and, with luck, European pond turtles or, rarely, the steppe viper (its bite is not deadly, but the leaflet advises going straight to the village dispensary). The village is also the starting point of ARBDD walking route D9 to Câșla Vădanei and of boat route 15; boat route 14, which starts and ends in Sulina, also passes through the village, (to the entrance of the Sfântu Gheorghe lagoon, Meleaua). Since 2004 the village has hosted the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival every August; its 23rd edition took place in 2026. You get there on the Navrom Delta ship from Tulcea or with licensed boats. In winter, when the Danube freezes, the link with Tulcea becomes difficult and many guesthouses close. Every visit to the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve requires the access permit issued by the reserve administration (ARBDD). It can be bought online on ddbra.ro, by SMS, at SelfPay terminals or, in cash, at the information centres in Sulina, Crișan and Murighiol; children, pupils, students and pensioners receive it free of charge. The village lies within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO and Ramsar site since 1991) and within the Natura 2000 sites ROSCI0065 and ROSPA0031. Nearby are the strictly protected areas of Sacalin-Zătoane and Lake Belciug, which may not be entered. The village has no monuments on the national List of Historic Monuments. Did you know that the village day is celebrated on 6 May, and that locals traditionally wash their faces with dew from the garden that morning to stay healthy all year? After the church feast service come a meal in the churchyard, horse races, races with lotca boats and sailors' games, to which Ukrainian folk ensembles from the delta are invited.