Monuments to visit Constanța

It's the landmark of Constanța. On the jetty by the Black Sea, this superb Art Nouveau building was designed by Swiss architect Daniel Renard and inaugurated in 1910. Its façade is adorned with a shell-shaped bay and its interiors are sumptuous. Confiscated by the Communists, the casino changed hands again and again after the revolution, until it fell into disrepair in the 2000s. After many ups and downs, a vast rehabilitation project was launched in 2020 and is due for completion in June 2024. You can already admire the restored façade.

In the center of the large pedestrian square that bears his name, you'll see the pensive statue of the Latin poet Publius Ovidius Naso. Born in 43 B.C., exiled in 9 A.D. by the Emperor Augustus, he died in Tomis in 17 or 18 A.D., leaving behind melancholy poems. His tomb has never been located. The statue, erected in 1887, was designed by the famous Italian sculptor Ettore Ferrari, who also created the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington. Surrounded by heterogeneous buildings, the square has been a gathering place since Antiquity.

Going up along the pleasant seaside promenade, you will see this lighthouse dating from the 14th century, renovated in 1860. It is also called the old lighthouse (farul vechi), as opposed to the new lighthouse (farul nou), which is very futuristic and which you may see on your way to the stations on the southern coast. Not far away, by the sea, is the statue of Mihai Eminescu, created by the sculptor Oscar Han in 1930. Further on, you will reach the marina of Tomis and, continuing along the sea, you will arrive at the grey sandy beach of the town.

The ruins of this ancient Roman city are divided into three sections: the museum, which houses archaeological remains (vases, funerary objects, etc.); the ruins of the city and its well-preserved surrounding walls; and the triumphal monument, erected in 109 A.D. to celebrate the victory won here by Emperor Trajan over the Dacians a few years earlier. The mausoleum visible today is a replica. The city was destroyed by the Goths in the ^3rd century.