When was Constanța founded and how old is it?
Constanța was founded around 600 BC as a Greek colony called Tomis. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania and one of the oldest in Europe.
Questions about Constanța
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why was the Roman poet Ovid exiled to Constanța?
Emperor Augustus banished Ovid to Tomis, the ancient name for Constanța, in AD 8. Ovid spent the last eight years of his life there and described the town as a war-stricken cultural wasteland on the remotest margins of the empire, lamenting his exile in the poetry collections Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto.
How large is the Port of Constanța and what is its rank in Europe?
The Port of Constanța covers 39.26 square kilometers and stretches about 30 kilometers in length. It is the largest port on the Black Sea and the fourth largest in Europe.
When did Constanța become part of Romania?
Constanța became part of Romania in 1878, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, when the Ottoman Empire ceded the city and the rest of Northern Dobruja to Romania.
What is the Constanța Casino and what happened to it?
The Constanța Casino was commissioned by King Carol I in 1910 and designed by architects Daniel Renard and Petre Antonescu on the Black Sea shore. It features Art Nouveau architecture and was once a major attraction for European tourists, but lost its customers after the collapse of communism. Renovation of the derelict building finally began in 2021.
What famous people were born in Constanța?
Notable natives of Constanța include actor Sebastian Stan, born in 1982; tennis player Simona Halep, born in 1991; Olympic gymnasts Cătălina Ponor, born in 1987, and Simona Amânar, born in 1979; mathematician Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, born in 1906; and American billionaire businesswoman Anastasia Soare, born in 1957.