Located near the town’s embankment, the Danube Delta Eco-Tourism Museum Center, together with other two museums, the Muslim mosque, and other buildings-patrimony, is part of the cultural center of Tulcea town.
Conceived as a complex cultural institution – museum and public aquarium, the Danube Delta Eco-Tourism Museum Center is the result of the joint efforts of the Tulcea County Council and the Eco-Museum Research Institute Tulcea, in the frame of a project developed through the Neighbourhood Programme Romania-Ukraine (PHARE CBC 2004-2006). It was officially inaugurated on April 14, 2009 and opened for the public on February 25, 2009.
The center comprises a permanent exhibition which mainly shows elements specific to the actual natural patrimony of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, a public aquarium and various temporary exhibitions. A scenery, which is an exact reproduction of the specific habitats for the Danube Delta and Razim-Sinoe Lagoon Complex, as well as for other national protected areas from Dobrudja Plateau like Măcin Mountains National Park, the permanent exhibition allows the discovery of the two geographic units high biodiversity. The 46 species of plants, 3 species of reptiles, 44 species of birds and 12 species of mammals are displayed in various hypostases and ecological relationships. Here you also have the opportunity to see the birds declared nature monuments, the species of rare animals protected at the national and European levels, the species extinct from the delta and Dobrudja, the species new for the Delta’s fauna but also aspects of their lives through the documentaries which can be seen during your visit.
The aquarium is equipped with modern installations and it has a stocking capacity of 150 tones of water. It shows a collection composed of 24 indigenous species of fish from the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, 23 reef species of fish, 8 marine species of invertebrates and 12 coral species from Indonesia. The basins with reef species of fish and invertebrates, displayed in a public space, constitute a novelty for Tulcea and even for Romania. Through a system of two cylindrical aquariums, concentrically disposed, you have the possibility to experience the existence in the middle of a reef, surrounded by fish and corals of various and impressive shapes and colours. You can also have the same sensations by passing through the tunnel of the aquarium biggest basin, where you are surrounded by sturgeons – considered to be the most primitive species still alive and eels – known for their reproductive particularities.
In a short while, the Danube Delta Eco-Touristic Museum Center has become a place for leisure and socialization, due both to its activities and its facilities: the toy library for the preschoolers, the Infotech with its computers connected to Internet and interactive programs, the tax free welcome room, the wireless connectivity, and also the facilities for the disabled people: access ramp, elevator and special toilet room. At the exit, the visitors have the possibility to acquire various souvenirs like postcards, albums, maps, small artefacts or artisan objects made by the delta’s inhabitants.
