INTERESTING PLACES
The
Archaeological Museum has a rich collection of
Roman statues. Two of them are special: the one of
Fortuna Goddess and Pontos God, the two protectors of the
city, and the one of Glicon Snake. All of them were
discovered in 1962 under the old railway station.
Here, a hall
dedicated to Ovidius can be seen too. Tomis
Fortress Wall is situated along Ferdinand Boulevard.
It has been destroyed for many times and rebuilt in the
beginning of IVth century, since there was built the so-called
Butchers Tower (the butchers in town offered money
for this wall part building).
Two
gates have been cleared up - they can be seen today in
Ferdinand Boulevard - and square towers guard them.
|
Fortuna Goddess
and Pontos God |
The Roman mosaic (detail) |
The Roman
mosaic, located in Ovidiu Square, was discovered in
1959. It is a vast complex built on three levels, which
was the connection between the old town and the port in
that time.
This great
monument (over 2000 s. metres) was built during the IVth
century and repaired many times to the end of VIth
century, when it became a ruin, as long as the commercial
activitieshad been stopped. |
Only
700 square meters are now preserved. On the up-terrace there is
an impressive hall (100 metres long and 20 metres wide) but only
a part of the long wall, one of the lateral walls and the mosaic
floor are preserved. This huge hall was used for various reunions
of the fortress authorities, merchants who were doing commercial
transactions in here.
The historical center
- in the front view, Roman ruins - |
At
the southern side of this monument there are the
Therms (Terme) built in the same time. A large
room of 300 square metres was provided with marble floor;
under it there was the heating-system - the
hypocaustum - which was pushing the hot air up to
some narrow dithces.
The underground
corridors (big clay pipes) were used as tanks for current
water brought from 5-10 km; as the water-corridor was the
biggest in Roman Dobrogea (3-4 metres under the sea level
and in order to reach the fortress, the Half-Island had
to be penetrated). |
The
Painted Tomb - one of the most recent archeological dicovery
in town (25th february 1988), is extremly valuable and unique in
Romania. This is located on the Seacoast, at the end of Stefan
cel Mare Street (next to "Zorile" Restaurant).
It is a rectangular
vault (2,80 metres long, 2,30 metres wide and 2 metres high),
built in brick. The walls painted in fresco technique have
antropomorphical, zoomorphical and fitomorphical representations.
The inventory isn't very various - the vault was looted: into
four coffins there have been found four skeletons, the heads to
west, the arms near the bodies, as that time ritual was, also two
glass vases and many beads.
The
Mahmud II's Mosque, built in the XIII-th century
by Romanian state for the necessities of Moslem
supporters, joins the Byzantine style (the tower and the
imposing cupola) and Romanian architectural elements (the
building itself) - a unique mosque in Dobrogea.
It is the first
construction made in steel-concrete and brick in Romania;
in time, the steel-concrete rusted and the reinforcement
of the tower and cupola was necessary, a difficult work
made in 1957-1959.
The tower is 47
metres high and the preaching room has the shape of a
square (14 x 14 metres). The balcony is reserved for
Moslem women, and is 14 metres long and 3 metres wide.
The altar is made in Moorish style, characteristic to
worshipping Moslem buildings. |
The Mahmud II's
Mosque |
Upon
the main gate there are two Arabian inscriptions. In the yard, on
the left and on the right sides of the entrance, there are wash-stands
used for "abdest" as required by their religion.
Inside, on the floor
there is a carpet brought from Ada-Kaleh island in 1965 as Sultan
Abdul Hamid's donation. This carpet was made in Hereche
Handicraft Centre, Turkey.
In the entrance hall
there is a doorway that leads to the tower, where there is a
winding staircase. The boy in charge to announce prayer time
"climbs" 140 steps.
The
Genovese Lighthouse, located on the Casino Cliff and built
between 1858-1860 by the same English company that upgraded the
Port, is so called in the memory of the merchants who were coming
from Genoa and used to have a commercial scaffolding, protected
by a pear that was leading to the gulf.
The lighthouse worked
until 1913 and it was restored in 1948. It is 8 metres high and
the light can be seen from 9,5 miles.
The
Hunchiar, situated in Tomis Boulevard near the Youth Hotel,
was built in 1868 using the stones from the old gate of Ottoman
fortress which was destroyed during Russian-Ottoman War in 1828.
The Moorish architectural style corresponds to the Moslem culture
characteristics. The tower is 24 metres high.
The
Orthodox Cathedral, built in 1883-1885, was blessed only on
22nd May 1895 because of its initial painting nonconformism (the
faces in the icons looked like some of the the city authorities
of the time and had to be repainted).
The church has got an
imposing tower of 35 metres high. The architect respected the
characteristics of traditional Romanian architecture.
The frescoes were
remade in 1959-1961 in neo-Byzantine technique. The sculptures of
iconostasis and pews, chandeliers and candlesticks (bronze and
brass alloy) were made in Paris.
The indoor is clubs
form like (typical Romanian element) and there are large archways
and cupolas.
The Casino |
The
Casino, built in 1909, was inaugurated in August 1910.
The designs were made by the French architect Daniel
Renard
sentative in
town for decades, a real symbol for Constanta; it was
also the only representative of "art nouveau"
style in Romania.
On the top of
the building, the decorations consists of old ships
representations (ram heads and alga garlands). Inside
there are imposing staircases and banisters, covered
columns and marble girdles on the walls.
In 1985-1987
the building was restored and the furniture was entirely
changed. |
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