Where the Danube dissolves into a labyrinth of channels and reed beds before it finds the Black Sea — Europe's largest and least-visited wetland wilderness.
The second-largest river delta in Europe — 5,800 square kilometres of channels, floating reed islands, willow galleries, and lakes navigable only by small boat. Over 300 bird species pass through or breed here, including the largest white pelican colony in Europe. The delta is still growing, adding new land at the river's mouth each year.
Old Believers — Russian Christians who fled the 17th-century church reforms — settled in the delta centuries ago and built their wooden churches and painted houses on the few dry islands that exist. Their descendants still live here, still fish with traditional methods, and still keep their distinct dialect, traditions, and recipes.
The oldest city on Romanian soil is at Histria — a Greek colony founded in the 7th century BC on a lagoon shore. The ruins sit in a landscape of flat light and salt wind. Southward, the Black Sea coast alternates between wild beaches and the overbuilt resorts of Mamaia; north of Constanța, the delta side is still empty.