Isaccea

The Isaccea Town is a small town situated on hill slopes at the north of the Tulcea County, in the historical region of Dobrudja, on the right side of the Danube, at the border line with Ukraine. The DN-E87 national road crosses the town and connects it with the Tulcea Municipality, the capital city of the Tulcea County, 35 km far in the north-west and a ferry boat line connects the town with the Braila and Galati Municipalities (over the Danube) 41 km far from the Galati Municipality. River transport also connects the town with the Tulcea, Galati and Braila Municipalities.

The most reliable explanation of the town name is that the town is situated on a commercial, military, political and strategic road used to connect the north-east of Europe with the Byzantine Empire crossing the Dobrudja Region. There the road splits into two sides, the Isaccea Town being situated on its right side, as Byzantines and later the Turks considered. In Turkish “sag” means “on the right”.

Archaeological discoveries attest that the first people on these territories were the Getae, who were later invaded by the Celts in the III^rd century B.C. The next population who expanded there were the Romans who raised the settlement rank to Municipium (Municipality) and a flourishing period followed for the settlement. In the XIV^th century, Dobrudja was integrated into Wallachia and was returned to the mother-land under the rule of Mircea Cel Batran (Mircea the Elder). After the Independence War of 1877, Isaccea and the entire Romanian Dobrudja were reintegrated into the Romanian territory.

The main occupations of the local population are farming, fishing and fruit growing. The Isaccea Town is an important wine-growing centre of the Sarica-Niculitel vineyard, well-known for the Rielsing and Aligote white wine varieties and the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon red wine varieties. The industry of the town is mainly based on the rock extraction (rock quarries with extraction points in Isaccea and Revarsarea) and wood working. The town is an important port on the Danube.

There are important tourist attractions worth visiting in and around the town, including a number of constructions allowing tourists to admire the specific Dobrudjan architectural charm of the zone. The Noviodunum military base, an archaeological reserve, lies on the right side of the Danube, on the so-called site “Pontonul Vechi” (the Old Pontoon) in the proximity of the Isaccea Town, 2 km far to the east on the last easy crossing point of the Danube. The ancient Roman military base at the Danube is one of the oldest military bases in Dobrudja, currently almost entirely covered with sediments. Two years ago, an excavation of the archaeological site was undertaken in order to recover different artefacts and display them in the Tulcea County Museum. The fortress is situated in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, which is also a NATURA 2000 site.

The Turkish mosque as old as the XVI^th century is situated in the centre of the town and has a valuable stone-carved decoration.

The Cocos architectural assembly is a religious building sited 8 km far from the town.

The Saint George Orthodox Church built at the end of the XVIII^th century is another religious attraction of the town. A Boian settlement, called “Punctul Suhat” (the Suhat Point) as old as 7,000 years is 1 km far from the current valley of the Danube at the north-west of the Isaccea Town. The “Lacul Rotundu” (the Rotundu Lake) Scientific Reserve, a flood-plain lake, is also situated not far from the town. Other tourist attractions include the Saint Atanasie Church, a historical and architectural religious monument, the Centre of Ethnography – Popular Art, the Pottery Art Centre.

Besides the Christian holidays, local communities celebrate other three traditional feasts “Zilele culturii la Isaccea” (the Cultural Days of Isaccea Town), “Vremea culesului - sărbătoarea recoltei” (the Harvest Season – the Harvest Feast), “Obiceiuri şi colinde de iarnă” (Winter Customs and Christmas Carols).                                                        

Source: www.isaccea.ro,  www.wikipedia.ro, http://www.info-delta.ro/localitati-22/isaccea-24.html, http://www.pensiunideltadunarii.ro/cazare-pensiuni/Cazare-Pensiuni-Isaccea/, www.insse.ro