From Greek antiquity to the middle ages: A possible incursion on special interest tourism in the Danube Delta

Abstract

The Danube Delta is the newest landform within the Romanian territory. In 1992 it was declared a Biosphere Reservation (UNESCO patrimony), the only delta on the globe in this category. The natural resources (landscape, animal and vegetation, water bodies, etc.) and the cultural inheritance (historical vestiges, traditional architecture, customs, etc) are part of the Danube Delta - the most important tourism area in Romania. If, in the Communist period, the Romanians were the ones mainly visiting the delta, in the current context there are ever more foreign tourists (German, Austrian, French, Spanish, Italian, etc.). Unfortunately, the tourism development plans do not fully target the cultural exploitation of the region. This is the reason for proposing a tourist exploitation of the ancient and mediaeval inheritance, since the historical vestiges of Dobroudja are extremely rich, being at the limit between the continental land and the deltaic area. The 17 proposed objectives (ancient and mediaeval cities) can be visited in two ways: by land and by water. The Bisericuta city can only be visited by water and the Ibida city only by land. Such an itinerary may be combined with other forms of tourism, or it may be considered specialist tourism for archaeologists, historians, art historians, and students in the field (history, geography, architecture, etc.). It is the first such itinerary proposed in the area of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reservation. The tourist exploitation of all the resources within the area of the Danube Delta will inevitably lead to an increase in the incomes of the local population and of the particular institutions. On the territory of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reservation ecologically responsible tourism will be practiced. The nodal point of all tourist destinations within the Danube Delta is the town of Tulcea (the former city of Aegyssus), endowed with an infrastructure which can satisfy even the most exigent tastes. © 2011 WIT Press.