Mamaia is a satellite spot of Constanta, located on its North, and represents the most popular resort on the Romanian seaside of Black Sea. Having a special glamour and a well-deserved fame, Mamaia resort attracts, each year, a record number of tourists from all over the world.

Initially, Mamaia was a Greek and Lipovans fishermen, Roman shepherds and Tatar horse breeders village. Its name comes from a local Tatar landlord from Ottoman rule, called Mamai. This place was totally unknown to the tourists until 1906, when two pavilions uniting several wooden cottages, having a bridge towards the seaside, were built. For the "Sea Baths" lovers, as the tourists looking for sunbaths were called, a railway was built, so the access to Mamaia became so much easier. The railway remains operational till 1960. After the First World War, Mamaia started developing. The Royal Family built here a summer residence. In 1935, the famous Mamaia Casino was built, we'll look into it later on, and in 1934 the very first hotel appeared, which was nothing more than a mansion. In 1957, the first floored building are built, designated especially for tourists accommodation, being actually the first hotels. During communist era, the resort expanded massively, thus becoming, for Ceausescu`s regime, a foreign currency vacuum cleaner because this was a destination especially for foreign tourist.

Mamaia is a special place that needs to be seen. Actually, the resort is built on a hill of 8 km in length, having only 300 m width. On one side of the hill shines the foamy Black Sea, on the other shines the lake called Siutghiol (in Turkish: "milky lake"). The beach covers most of this land stripe, being almost 250 m wide, covered by such kind of a sand that rarely can be found anywhere in the world - a very silky sand, part mineral, part shells. Along the beach there are plenty shops, restaurants, terraces, clubs and discos.

Must see things while in Mamaia:

Beyond any doubt, Casino is a real symbol of the town, also a magnet for the tourists coming here, the snapshots made here being the most important in the holiday photo album. For more than 130 years, the imposing building on the Black Seat seaside kept its charm from its golden ages. The beginnings of the Casino, 1880 to be precise, also represent an important historical event: transferring Dobrogea under Romanian administration, the Casino being the first building constructed here after Ottoman rule ended. At that time, the Casino was built near Genovese lighthouse, on a wooden structure, and the entire exterior was covered by plain wood. The interior, a very generous one, had lecture halls, games halls and a terrace set on the sea side was the favorite meeting place of the elite of the time, tourist as well as seafarers from all over the world.

In 1891 a strong storm destroyed almost entirely the casino building and the Town hall decided and built, within just two years, another casino. Therefore, in 1893 the new casino is open, being built exactly as the old one, having a party wing whose pylons seemed to raise up from the waves, and a terrace somehow floating above the waves, surrounded by lanterns spreading a magical light. In 1903, the town's leaders decided Constanta needed a much modern casino and after several political disputes, they managed to delay the new construction until 1907. Three years later the works were finished, but the final costs was 1.300.000 lei. The construction of the new casino provoked criticism in the local newspapers but, despite all, the Casino was open on 15th of August 1910 in prince Ferdinand presence.

Shortly after its opening, the Casino became known as really luxurious place, decorated with expensive furniture of noble nature, beautifully decorated walls, delicate and expensive rugs, sophisticated chandeliers and so on. But, because of the high expenses, the authorities legalize gambling, thus becoming a place accessible only by the rich arrived here from all over the world. As the time passed by, because of the lack of reaction from authorities, the Casino started loosing its glamour. A restauration started at the beginning of 80`s, but with no much success. Today, the tourists can admire the Casino's old building quietly "guarding" the sea shore, waiting to regain its lost glamour. Mamaia Holiday Village is one of the main attractions for the tourists, a real picturesque place that reunites almost 31 restaurants with traditional Romanian menu, where the gourmands can enjoy tasty dishes. All the restaurants are traditionally decorated, according to the area where they come from. The Holiday Village is very popular also for the generous shell souvenirs offer, all being hand made from the shells brought to the shore during the winter by the stormy Black Sea waters. Aqua Magic Mamaia, also known as the most modern aqua park on the entire Black Sea shore, having 27200 square m, is the perfect place where the tourists can relax during holidays. Aqua Magic Mamaia offers the best anti-stress remedies: slides, swimming pools both for adults and children, water falls, but also souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and fast-food restaurants. So, the tourists looking for a chilling escape are expected at Aqua Magic Mamaia throughout the entire summer time. Mamaia Gondola open on 16th of July 2004, became very fast one of the main attractions for the tourists during summer time. Besides sunbaths, hours spent on the beach under the lovely sun, tourists can finish a perfect summer day taking a gondola tour of the touristic destinations in the area. Gondola is very similar to a modern cable car and links the Casino and Perla Hotel on a 2.1 km distance covered in just seven minutes. For keeping the holiday memories alive, the tourists are invited "to float" in gondola above Mamaia resort, the views being unbelievable beautiful.

Weather in Mamaia

MAMAIA WEATHER
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