The Danube's outflow into the Black Sea
Sulina Branch
The Sulina Branch entices you with a unique experience on the waters at the Danube’s discharge into the Black Sea, near the city of Sulina. Your travel journal cannot miss the navigable route on the Sulina Branch for a complete expedition in the Danube Delta – which was formed from the interaction between the Danube and the Black Sea over 16,000 years ago. The Sulina Branch is the second branch of the Danube, which developed following the silting up of the oldest branch, the St. George branch.
Natural Reserve
All the iconic trails of the green paradise, with the spectacle of bird colonies and the richness of flora, fauna, and ecosystems of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, culminate with the Danube’s discharge into the Black Sea through the Sulina Branch. The place where the freshwater of Europe’s second-largest river meets the salty sea water creates an impressive sight – through the blending of watercolors and intense air currents.
The navigable section of the Sulina Branch has been extended into the sea by a set of huge parallel dikes, built up to a distance of approximately 5 km from the shore. These form the Sulina Bar, which prevents silting (clogging) of the entry to the Danube. At the terminal part of the right dike (towards the sea) stands the New Sulina Lighthouse. The outflow of the Danube into the Black Sea via the Sulina Branch is among the most visited, along with the other two: Chirila and St. George.
Also called the Sulina canal, it is the straightest and shortest (64 km) branch of the Danube Delta. Located in the middle of the Delta, the Sulina Branch is regulated and canalized for the navigation of sea vessels with a draft of up to 7 m (the draft represents the submersion depth of a ship). The hydro-technical engineering works to regulate and deepen the Sulina canal for navigation, which made the Danube navigable, were performed by the illustrious engineers of the European Commission of the Danube (Sir Charles Augustus Hartley, John Stokes, Karl Henrich Leopold Kühl, and Charles Gordon), between 1857-1907.
Currently, the particularly complex works for the regulation of the Danube on the Sulina Branch require continuous dredging (cleaning) for the maintenance of maritime navigation. The localities spread along the Sulina Branch are: Ilganii de Sus, Maliuc, Gorgova, Crisan, Vulturu, Partizani, and Sulina.
Tourist Attractions in the City of Sulina
Sulina is a port city in Tulcea County, located in the eastern part of the Danube Delta, accessible only by water (via the Danube or the Black Sea). With a population of less than 4,000 inhabitants, Sulina is one of the oldest settlements in our country, dating back over 2,700 years. The city is situated at the lowest altitude in Romania, 4 meters above sea level, at the mouth of the Sulina Branch into the Black Sea.
According to historical documentation provided by the Lighthouse Museum of the European Commission of the Danube, Sulina was devastatingly destroyed by over 80% during the Soviet bombings of World War II.
One of the tourist attractions in the city of Sulina is the old maritime cemetery, unique in Europe as a complex of three cemeteries: the Christian cemetery, the Muslim cemetery, and the Jewish cemetery. It is renowned for the artistic aesthetics of the funerary monuments of local personalities and high officials of the European Commission of the Danube.
Other tourist attractions in the city of Sulina include the Old Lighthouse Museum (the observatory lighthouse, built between 1869-1870, which emits a fixed white light over a radius of 36 km), the Palace of the European Commission of the Danube (a historic monument, built between 1860-1868 by the European Commission of the Danube as the headquarters for its members and its General Secretariat), the seven churches, and the Water Castle (water plant) built in 1897 by the Queen of the Netherlands.
Sulina Beach has been arranged and modernized to optimal standards, features the finest sand, and is the widest stretch of this kind on the Black Sea coast.