Luncavita

Luncăviţa is a commune in the Tulcea County, in the north of the Dobrudja Region, on the right bank of the Danube. The constituent villages of the Commune are the Luncavita Village – seat of the Commune, and the Rachelu Village. The territory of the commune is characterized by an association of three landform subunits, that is ‘Lunca Dunarii’ (the Danube Meadow), ‘Muntii Macinului’ (the Macin Mountains) and ‘Podisul Niculitel’ (the Niculitel Plateau) lowering from more than 360m in the south to the sea level in the north.

The Luncavita Village lies 52 km far from the Tulcea Municipality, along the E87 European road (DN22). The nearest town is the Isaccea Town to the east of the territory, 13 km far from the Rachelu Village.

The oldest material traces (tools and silex chips) discovered on the territory of the Luncavita Commune – the Luncavita Village, date back from the Paleolithic Age (35,000-10,000 B.C.) and Mezolitic Age (10,000-5,500 B.C.). Traces of the Gumelnita Culture (the second half of V^th  millenium B.C.) were also found on the territory of the Commune. One of the landmarks of the prehistory in the North Dobrudja is the Tell Settlement at Cetatuia, discovered in 1898 where traces of the existence of a number of communities of farmers and animal raisers who took good advantage of the resources of the environment were found. Other findings include an important amount of ceramic pottery, a large number of copper items and splendid fragments of painted pottery belonging to the Cucuteni Culture.

The specific economic activities of the area are agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, beekeeping and grape wine growing. The specific features of the area and the high tourism potential provide favourable conditions for tourism and agri-tourism development in the territory of the Commune. The Luncavita Commune is a wine-growing and ethnographic centre where a pottery shed exists.

Tourist attractions. The Luncavita Commune is situated at accessible distances from several tourist attractions, a fact that encourages the idea of new cultural and religious tourism routes: the Saon Monastery, the Celic-Dere Convent, the Cocos Monastery, the Niculitel Basilica, the Noviodunum Fortress (Isaccea), the Dinogetia Fortress (Garvan). Remains of the Neolithic, Gumelnita-type Cetatuia settlement have been uncovered in the proximity of the Luncavita Commune. Other tourist attractions include ‘Parcul National Muntii Macinului’ (the ‘Macin Mountains’ National Park), ‘Rezervatia Stiintifica Valea Fagilor’ (the ‘Beech Valley’ Scientific Reserve) included into the ecological network – NATURA 2000, Muntii Macinului (the Macin Mountains). The entire administrative territory of the Lucavita Commune is part of the ecological network – NATURA 2000, which includes the Danube Delta Special Protection Areas (SPA) and the ‘Razim – Sinoe’ and ‘Măcin – Niculițel’ lagoon complex and ‘Podisul Nord Dobrogean’ (the Plateau of the North Dobrudja), ‘Delta Dunarii’ (the Danube Delta) and ‘Muntii Macinului’ (the Macin Mountains) Special Community Interest Areas (SCI).

Of particular importance is ‘Rezervatia Valea Fagilor’ (the ‘Beech Valley’ Reserve) (154 ha). The narrow ‘Beech Valley’ (the ‘Valea Fagilor’) hosts a beech forest (Fagus Orientalis species), protected from the wind, which considering the hot and draughty climate of the North Dobrudja is a scientific curiosity and an exception. The forest area contains a large number of lime trees, which makes it an important honey-bearing vegetation area of the country.

The ‘Muntii Macinului’ (the ‘Macin Mountains’), the oldest mountains of Romania, which are the result of the Hercynian Orogeny, that took place some 300 to 400 million years ago are a particular tourist attraction. The National Park covers the central and highest area of the Macin Mountains stretching over the largest part of the main summit (‘Culmea Macinului’ – the ‘Macin Summit’) and a secondary summit (‘Culmea Pricopanului’– the ‘Pricopan Summit’). The ‘Parcul Naţional Munţii Măcinului’ (the ‘Macin Mountain’ National Park) located in the north-west part of the Dobrudja Region stretches over 11.151,82 ha and is the sole national park in the country which contains large areas of steppe vegetation, represented there by the Pontic-Balkan steppe. That type of vegetation is very rare in Europe. One of the main reasons for the establishment of the National Park was the very large number of endangered species of plants, of which many grow only in the Dobrudja Region and are not protected in other nature reserves.

A number of 6 tourist routes have been set up in the ‘Parcul Naţional Munţii Măcinului’ (the ‘Macin Mountains’ Natural Park), approved by the Tulcea County Council and the Romanian Academy of Sciences, – a thematic route, a horse riding route and cycling routes: the ‘Tutuianu’ route, the ‘Greci’ – ‘Dealul cu Drum’ – ‘Nifon’ Route, the ‘Varful Crapcea’ (the ‘Crapcea Peak’) Route, the ‘Culmea Pricopanului’ (the ‘Pricopan Summit’) Route, the ‘Cozluk’ – ‘Valea Plopilor’ (the ‘Beech Valley’) Route, the ‘Valea Vinului’ (the ‘Wine Valley’) – ‘Cerna’ Route.

Of particular interest are the churches of the two settlements: the Luncavita Village – Biserica ‘Sfântul Dumitru’ (Saint Demeter Church) – rebuilt in 1827; the Rachelu Village - Biserica ’Sfântul Nicolae’ (Saint Nicolas Church) – rebuilt in 1859.

The ‘Valea Fagilor’ Motel (a three-star motel), not far from the ‘Valea Fagilor’ Nature Reserve can provide accommodation for tourists.

Three specific customs are celebrated in the Commune:
 

-          ‘Christmas Carols’ including rituals with marks and bells (‘mosoii’ and ‘mosoicutele’), a unique custom in the Dobrudja Region

-          the Epiphany Holiday, including competitions between animals and baptizing all animals and, particularly, horses

-          The ‘Sarbatoarea Teilor’ (‘Lime-Tree Feast’ celebrated every year on the day in which Saints Peter and Paul are celebrated, including art performances in all northern settlements of the Dobrudja Region.                

Source: http://comunaluncavita.ro/ , http://www.info-delta.ro/,  http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comuna_Luncavi%C8%9Ba,_Tulcea