Isaccea

Isaccea (iˈsaktʃe̯a; İshakçı) is a small town in Tulcea County, in Northern Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2021 census, it has a population of 4,408. The town has been inhabited for thousands of years, as it is one of the few places in all the Lower Danube that can be easily forded and thus an easy link between the Balkans and the steppes of Southern Ukraine and Russia, north of the Black Sea. The Danube was for a long time the border between the Romans, later Byzantines and the "barbarian" migrating tribes in the north, making Isaccea a border town, conquered and held by dozens of different peoples. The town has under its administration 103.97 km2, of which 3.69 km2 are inside the residential areas. The town is divided into three settlements: Isaccea proper (4,789 inhabitants) and two villages, Revărsarea (563 inhabitants) and Tichilești (10 inhabitants). The Tulcea – Brăila roadway (DN22/E87) crosses the town. The town is located in near to the Măcin Mountains and Dobruja Plateau (in the south) and the Danube (in the north). Many lakes could once be found in the town, but some of them were desiccated by the Communist authorities in order to use the terrain for agriculture. This initiative lacked success, since the soil of the area proved to be not very fertile. Some larger lakes still remain: Saun, Telincea, Rotund, Ghiolul Pietrei, Racova. In April 2006, the dyke which protected this terrain failed and the Danube flooded again the areas which used to be wetlands. Along the Danube there is a floodplain, which gets inundated every spring, bringing fresh water to the lakes and the marshlands. The largest lake in Isaccea is "Lacul Rotund" (literally, Round Lake), having an area of 2.19 km2 and a volume of 2.0 million m3. Tichilești, Tulcea Tichilești was founded as a monastery of Tichilești, with time becoming a leper colony. A legend says the monastery was founded by one of the Cantacuzino princesses who was affected by leprosy.