The former Ottoman Consulate

The foundation stone was laid by King Carol I himself during his visit to Tulcea on October 17-18, 1879. On the parchment placed at the base of the foundation it was written: "The year of 1879, the month of October, in seventeen days, by His Royal Highness Carol I, Lord of Romania, this foundation stone of the monument erected in the city of Tulcea, in commemorating the annexation of Dobrogea by Romania." The execution of the monument was entrusted to the Romanian sculptor George Vasilescu. The funds necessary for the construction of the work came from the public collection, through the care of the "League for the preservation of Dobrogea" established in 1896 and led by Ioan Nenițescu and architect Grigore Tocilescu. The monument dedicated to the reunification of Dobrogea with Romania was designed in the form of a 22m obelisk, based on a two-step plinth topped by a pedestal. The obelisk was made of Ravenna granite, on it was the coat of arms of Romania surrounded by laurels, and below it two bronze plates commemorating the event in honor of which the monument was erected, as well as the date on which it was to be inaugurated. On one side and the other of the obelisk, on some semicircular pedestals, two other impressive sculptural elements were fixed - a dorobanț with a weapon on his shoulder and a horn in his hand, a symbol of the Romanian soldiers, and on the left an eagle, the main element of the coat of arms of Romania, symbol of courage and flight to heights. Both were cast in Venice, in bronze, in Munaretti's workshop. Due to the unexpected death of the sculptor in November 1898, the monument remained unfinished. It was continued, in the next two years, according to G. Vasilescu's plans by the sculptor Constantin Bălăcescu. Thus, in November 1899 the statue of the dorobant was brought to Tulcea and installed, and in 1900 the effigy of the eagle also arrived. The monument was inaugurated in a festive setting, on May 2, 1904, in the presence of the royal family. The mayor of the city, N. Comișani, then addressed the distinguished guests: "A wish of Your Majesty has been fulfilled: the towering Monument of the re-annexation of Dobrogea has risen on that beautiful rock designated by Your Majesty. He will speak to posterity of the bravery of the dorobant and of the Great Captain, our glorious King". Destroyed during the First World War by the occupation troops, the monument will be rebuilt in 1935 by the architect G.T. Ionescu, head of the city's technical service, according to the model located at the Military Museum in Bucharest at that time. Due to the lack of funds, the two sculptural elements - the dorobant and the eagle - were no longer made. On the occasion of the preparations for the celebration of the centenary of Romania's State Independence, the works to restore the monument also begin. Through the contribution of the people of Tulcea and the sculptor Cristea Grosu, the monument was created in its initial form and inaugurated on May 9, 1977. HINT: Visit this place at sunrise, if you are early bird, or at sunset, to enjoy an impressive view of the city. Give yourself some quiet moments here to really connect with the atmosphere of a city steeped in history.

The first documentary attestation of the Aegyssus Fortress corresponds to the beginning of the integration process of Dobrogea within the boundaries of the Roman state. Ovid mentions the conquest of the city in AD 12. by the North-Danubian Dacians and its reoccupation by Roman troops. According to the Roman poet, Aegyssus was already an old city (uetus urbs), defended by strong walls, located on the bank of the Danube, in a high place that could hardly be reached. In late antique sources, the name of the city, probably of Celtic origin, appears in various forms: Egiso (Itinerarium Antonini 226, 2); Aegissos, respectively Accisso (Notitia Dignitatum Or. 39, 8, 17; 34); Aϊγισσος (Hierocles, Synecdemos, 637, 14); Aϊγιστον (Procopius of Caesarea, De Aedificiis, 4, 7, 20); Egypsum (Geographer of Ravenna IV, 5). The archaeological and epigraphic materials from the Roman era highlight a cosmopolitan population, made up of veterans, merchants, shipowners, landowners. A funerary stela discovered on Miron Costin Street attests to the fact that, in the middle of the second century AD. the city owned a territory where there were villae rusticae settlements and rural farms. Aegyssus was above all an important garrison headquarters for troops tasked with defending a frontier region of the Roman Empire. Units from the V Macedonica legion and the Roman Danube fleet (classis Flavia Moesica) were to defend the city. In the second half of the 3rd century AD, a stamp on a tile mentions the name of an auxiliary unit – cohort II Flavia Brittonum. Later, in the late Roman period, the fortification takes on a particularly important role in the defensive system of the province and becomes the seat of the lower pediment of the I Iovia Legion, but also of a cavalry unit (cuneus equitum armigerorum). In the 6th century it was the seat of a bishopric, as it appears from the Notitia Episcopatum and it appears in the list of Procopius of Caesarea among the cities restored by the emperor Justinian in Scythia. Many of the archaeological materials discovered during the research organized on the site of the ancient fortress, in the Independence Monument Park, can be found in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of History and Archeology, a museum located right next to the ruins of the fortress. Not to be missed if you come to this place.

The building was built at the end of the 19th century, being bought in 1932 by the Tulcea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an institution that had been operating since 1909. The intense commercial life determines requirements for commercial credit and specialized information, as a result new banking institutions, and the Chamber of Commerce functions as a commercial information office.

The Swiss House in Tulcea is the former headquarters of the Austrian Consulate, mentioned as such in 1864, being built on 9 Mai street (formerly Paul Stătescu). It is extremely different in the landscape of the place, unique in the entire Tulcean landscape with its architecture that recalls both German and Dobrogean specifics. Unfortunately, the building is today in an advanced state of disrepair. But it is worth mentioning to make you aware of how different and cosmopolitan Tulcea was once.

The station building was built in 1972, being one of the most special buildings in Tulcea Municipality. It was made according to the plans of the architect Irina Rosetti. Special at Tulcea Train Station is its tri-lobed plan, which takes the directions of the three axes that lead to the building; the river line, the cliff line and the road from the city center. The boat-looking building was conceived as a moor consisting of three arches – three half-boats that give the impression to the passenger on the ship that this building is rotating. The building houses the waiting room, the ticket offices, the information desk, the hand luggage store and the station master's office. The station has 4 lines (about 300 m long each) and 3 platforms. In 1990, passenger trains departing and arriving from here had 11 cars (the Bucharest express) or 9 cars (the personal and Constanta trains). Here you will also be able to admire a beautiful vintage steam locomotive in very good condition.

On the initiative of the local authorities and with the support of the "Heroes' Cult Society", in 1938 a committee headed by Colonel V. I. Rata, prefect of Tulcea and commander of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, was established to build an ossuary "in which to shelter the bones scattered on the camps and cemeteries in Moldova and later those gathered on the battlefields of Dobrogea, Carpathians and Marasesti which will also serve as a symbolic monument for today and future generations", as shown in a report to the royal resident of the Galati Territory, 30 . The exhumation work was done under the care of General Gh. Avramescu, the commander of the 10th Division in which the Tulceans from the 33rd and 73rd Infantry Regiments fought. For a month, the general visited all the places where the remains of Tulcea heroes rested, while the Committee from Tulcea, led by Lt. Col. Vasile I. Rata worked hard to build the ossuary in Tulcea. The ossuary of the heroes was placed in the cemetery of the heroes of the First World War, where the heroes of the Second World War will find their eternal rest. The initiative of placing a carved oak gate at the entrance to the cemetery and a monumental troit belonged to the 33rd Infantry Regiment, which, on October 13, 1934, celebrated half a century of its existence. A significant contribution to the creation of these sculpted works was made by the teaching staff from Tulcea, led by Professor Grigore Musculiu. One of the four wooden troits in the cemetery yard, with the inscription "In memory of our heroes who sacrificed their lives on the altar of the homeland", was executed by Ecaterina Heresteanu, a teacher at the Girls' Industrial High School in Tulcea. The mausoleum was built in 1938 through a contribution of 700,000 lei from the citizens of the city and 1,000 lei from the prefecture. The construction details can be found in the minutes of April 24, 1941 regarding the condition and inventory of the mausoleum: "We N. Mateescu, the Mayor of the city of Tulcea, accompanied by Mr. Captain Bistreanu Ion from the 33rd Dorobanti Regiment and delegate of the Tulcea Garrison and Mr. Ioan Caragheorghe, technical agent at Serv. Communal technical, we went to the Osuarul Eroilor to inventory the state of the mausoleum in accordance with the prescriptions under the head. IV art. 32 of C. art. 34 and 35 of the Law on the Regime of War Memorials and Monuments and I found the following: The Mausoleum in the city of Tulcea, a monumental construction started in 1938 on the initiative of a local committee houses the remains of the Heroes of the 33rd and 73rd Infantry regiments. The mausoleum is built of concrete and brick in the middle of a park with a guard, in front of the troit and a massive portal at the entrance to its park. It is surrounded by a stone fence with concrete columns and iron chains. The bones of the heroes are placed in two side underground crypts, made of stone and concrete, with access doors and openings with windows to the crypts. The Osuarului Chapel, located in the center, has a reinforced concrete tower above it decorated with relief ornaments, and inside, religious oil paintings. Above the crypts, over the concrete floor, the masked tin roof is supported by columns with capitals and decorated with battlements. In general, the building is in perfect condition and is well maintained, and the park is landscaped and cared for.

The Tulcea county library today bears the name of the famous Tulcea poet, of Bulgarian origin, Panait Cerna. It is located in the central area, on Isaccei street, near the Park of Personalities. It has been operating since 1984 in a generous space for a library of county interest, spread over an area of ​​3,500 square meters in total, with three levels, a spiral staircase and an interior garden, plus a book lift. Currently, the library owns over 330,000 library items (books, periodicals, audiovisual and electronic documents, manuscripts, illustrated postcards, other documents), of an encyclopedic nature, organized in usual collections (of home loan sections), basic (for study in the reading rooms) and special ones, intended for conservation, research and documentation (manuscripts, documents from personal archives and correspondence, photographs, bibliophile book, book with autograph and dedications, etc.).

Located on Isaccei Street, in the central area of ​​the city, unfortunately, the House of Culture of the Trade Unions in Tulcea Municipality has not been dedicated only to culture and arts for some time. It is an institution that operates in one of the most important buildings in the city and which, although it was not intended for this purpose by construction, rents its premises to bars, shops, travel agencies and many others. As Tulceni, we hope that this building will also be renovated in the near future and reorganized into something much more beneficial both for the local community and possibly for tourists.

In 1931, the building of the Select Cinema was built on Carol street (currently Strada Gării), according to the plans of the architect G. Alois from Galati, the property of the Scultety brothers in association with the merchant David Feimblat. In 1935, the cinema becomes entirely the business of the Scultety family, through the withdrawal of the partner, who sells his share for the sum of 800 lei. To put the cinema into operation, all the equipment was purchased from the company "S.A. Siewens & Shuckert", the representation of the company "Klang film" in Berlin. The cinema, which had a capacity of 600 seats, was operated by the Scultety brothers even after the nationalization in 1948, through a contract concluded with the town hall. Affected by the earthquake of 1977, the cinema building, renamed "7 Noiembrie", was repaired, during which several changes were made which reduced the number of seats to 380. At the same time, the entrance was moved to the opposite side , on Isaccei street, which had become the central artery of the city. In 1990, the name "Select" was restored. This is where the Oblivion Club currently operates. Photo credit: https://mistereledunarii.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/select-de-tulcea/