On the eve of autumn, Mihai Petrescu offers the public a gift with deltaic / Dobrogean specifics, a new revised and added edition of the color photo album with bilingual text (Romanian – English) entitled “DANUBE DELTA AND DOBROGEA – ROMANIA, legendary landscapes”, album that includes 160 pages dedicated to the natural and cultural landscapes of Tulcea and Constanţa counties.
Here is the author’s presentation:
”Danube Delta and Dobrogea have remained a timeless land, even under the roller of modernism. It is rare to see a more lively place, with a hidden charm, which delights the eye but especially the soul. Here any extraordinary natural formation, the mountains, the Danube, the Black Sea, the various tribes of Dobrogea, all have a story, a legend that enhances their beauty and mystery. In order to enjoy the whole charm of these legends, however, I recommend reading them in original, especially the synthesis works, (C. Cealera, E.D. Gemală, A. Mitru etc.). Some of the stories are unedited, being told to me by the locals, as an ancestral heritage.
No matter how incredible they may be, they deserve to be recorded, being the last snippets that the locals remember, from the treasure trove of stories inspired by Dobrogea, or brought from their homelands, along with relics or icons. Just as legends have a kernel of truth, also scientific truths acquire in Dobrogea the fabulous note of legends. The stories of Dobrogea recount about the vanished secular forests, now replaced by steppes, about islands and cities sunk in the incessant change of the course of the Danube or of the sea shores, about an underground network of rivers, natural caves, or tunnels dug for strategic purposes, many of which have not been identified so far.
The wonderful landscapes of former Dobrogea are today largely preserved in protected areas of European importance (Natura 2000). They represent true oases of natural beauty in an environment that becomes more and more artificial due to human activities. Besides the conservation of flora, fauna, geological environment, these protected areas have a cultural importance, through the associated legends, ethnicities or archaeological vestiges, with which I tried to complete the charm of these reserves in the present book. I wrote this book primarily for the public to fall in love with the land of Dobrogea and the Danube Delta, in the hope that this way this region will be better protected.”
The album “DANUBE DELTA AND DOBROGEA – ROMANIA, legendary landscapes”, Third Edition, revised and added, author: Mihai Petrescu; Bucureşti 2023 – ISBN 978-973-0-34235-2), 160 pages, price 150 lei, can be purchased directly at the TULCEA AQUARIUM shop, (DANUBE DELTA ECOTURISTIC MUSEUM CENTER, 14 November No.1, tel. 0340105652) or by courier (telephone order: 0040513231 (ICEM secretariat), 0340105652 (Tulcea Aquarium), or by e-mail: icemtl@icemtl.ro, petrescumihai1234@gmail.com).
