Wander & Wonder Travel Newsletter

Hey StoryHunter

Most summer getaways make you choose: The sea or the story? The beach or the past?

Constanța gives you both.

This old Romanian port city on the Black Sea offers sea air, bright promenades and long, hot days by the water.

But it is also a meeting point of worlds.

You’ll find layers of history revealing everything from:

• remnants of the Roman Empire and Ottoman Empire,
• traces of many different wars,
• and mosques, synagogues and Orthodox cathedrals side by side in peace with each other.

We’ve just launched a new audio walk in Constanța - the perfect excuse to discover a summer city with far deeper layers than its shoreline suggests.

Read on to learn about:

⛪ The Confessional Octagon

🎲 The Casino of Constanța

🗿 The Roman Remains

Explore Constanța with the new StoryHunt app

Now you can get tailored tours anywhere in the world 🌍

We've launched the new StoryHunt app, and we're so excited for you to try it!

It has a lot more features, a cool interactive map, and everything you need to explore the world in a new, exciting way.

Destination of the Week

Constanța is a city shaped by communities.

Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Jews, Turks, Tatars and others have all left traces here, which means the city’s identity is layered, mixed and unexpectedly rich.

Take for instance the Great Mosque of Constanța, which reminds you how deeply Ottoman and Muslim history is woven into the city.

And then there the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, which is a striking Orthodox landmark rebuilt after wartime damage.

And the best part: Constanța is compact enough to wander in one day. 

You can easily explore “The Confessional Octagon” – that’s the unique historic area in the Old Town – with its 8 places of worship.

Don't Miss

If one building truly captures Constanța's old grandeur, it's the Casino.

It opened in 1910, and it became the city's great symbol of glamour, decadence, and seaside ambition.

For a few golden years it rivalled Monte Carlo, drawing European aristocracy, gamblers, and even New Orleans jazz bands.

It was, however, heavily damaged in World War I, turned into a makeshift hospital in World War II, and later a community centre under communism.

The Casino sat decaying and abandoned for 35 years - until it finally reopened in May 2025 after a major restoration.

Did You Know?

Constanța was once called Tomis, and it was an important Roman city on the Black Sea.

And traces of that past are still right there in the old town.

In Ovid Square, you’ll find the statue of the Roman poet Ovid, who was exiled here by Emperor Augustus in AD 8 and spent his final years writing about his loneliness at the edge of the empire.

And just a few blocks away stands the Capitoline Wolf of Tomis, which tells the story of rivalry, power battles and how two brothers were raised by… a wolf.

The Trendy Traveler Tip

For the best shift in perspective, climb the minaret of the Carol I Mosque.

After wandering Constanța’s streets of churches, synagogues and old sea-facing buildings, it is the perfect place to step above it all and see how the city fits together.

You’ll see the old town, the harbour, the shoreline and the Black Sea beyond.

It is also one of the smartest summer moves in town - a little climb, a little breeze, and a much clearer sense of why this city have always been a meeting point of worlds.