Traditional Households Chilia Veche – Popescu Cornel Family

If you have reached the "Bird Paradise", this picturesque place where the fewest people in Romania live, it means that you are visiting the Danube Delta - the youngest Romanian land.

Formed over about 10,000 years, the Delta continues to grow today, a place that pulsates with life. It is considered not only the most cosmopolitan geographical unit on the globe, but also one of the areas with the greatest biodiversity. There are so many attractive places to visit that you will surely be glad to have the opportunity to see them at your leisure. Every corner deserves a photo, and every such photo will become a vivid memory of this special journey you embarked on.

The most populated rural settlement in the Delta, with a multi-ethnic composition of Romanians, Ukrainians, Lipovans, Hungarians, is Chilia Veche.

This picturesque place has a long and interesting history. It seems that during the communist period it should have even become a town. Chilia Veche is the oldest human settlement, and the people here live by the water and link their lives to it. It is a quiet place, because it is difficult to access by car, and this fact makes the village seem detached from the world. Here, everything has a different rhythm, one that you will understand and enjoy immediately.

A simple walk through the flower-filled streets of the village, away from the noise and chaos, is a delight. Here you can see old houses made only of natural materials - adobe, stone, wood, reed, all in green or blue. Your eyes will rest on their simple and harmonious forms.

People are welcoming, willing to show you how they make boats or other fishing tools, from environmentally friendly materials. Among their important occupations is also the making of household objects from rushes.

If you arrive on Grădinarilor street, you know that here the households are full of flowers in all colors. At number 95, the Popescu family will welcome you to visit their more than 100-year-old house but preserved with great respect. The white of the earthen walls meets the blue in which the wooden elements are painted and the thatched roof. Thus, the house seems to sparkle in the sunlight of the Danube Delta. With a simple volume, the cottage is reminiscent of the craftsmen of yesteryear who, even if they did not study proportions, had a native good sense and created a cottage like a jewel. 

The entire Danube Delta is a fabulous space, offering all kinds of attractions for tourists. First of all, you will notice the sensational landscapes, the animals and birds that delight with their diversity. On its territory, near the commune of Chilia Veche, there are 16 natural reserves with unique flora and fauna:

     • Roșca-Buhaiova-Hrecișca Reserve: the largest colony of pelicans in Europe nests here, colonies of egrets, Eurasian spoonbills, yellow herons and also here are forest-steppe sleds and the Letea forest.

     • Perișor-Zătoanere Reserve: this is where most swans and Dalmatian pelicans nest.

     • Periteasca-Leahova Reserve: the area most populated with birds on the coast.