Have you ever wondered what Constanța looked like in 1915, before Romania entered the First World War? But Mangalia or the rest of the Romanian coast?
In the summer of 1914, World War I was slowly and surely engulfing the entire world.
Although a member of the Triple Alliance, formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, Romania declared its neutrality. Two years of turmoil and internal debate followed on whose side Romania should join in the war.
Anyway, the Romanians enjoyed two years of peace, an opportunity for some of them to visit the country. Such a trip was also made by Constantin Argetoianu, who left us an impressive description of the places he visited.
A trip to Dobrogea
As the summer of 1915 was quiet in Romania, Argetoianu made two long journeys. The first in Dobrogea and the second in the mountain area of Vâlcea county. The trip to Dobrogea impressed Constantin Argetoianu, especially since Dobrogea was at the beginning of its economic development. The big cities in this province impressed the politician.
“Constanța României Mici”, as Argetoianu calls it, was far from the great port of the interwar period or today. They were a city where new hotels and restaurants were barely being built, an extremely clean city according to Argetoianu’s testimony. He also says that no one could have thought that the whole area would change radically in the interwar period.
“I stayed in Constanța for five days (in July 1915, no) and the nice town conquered me completely. It was still the Constanța of Little Romania, with the boulevard, the cathedral, with its port to the extent of our limited means and needs, but all spotlessly clean, as if they were not used every day, but kept for the big days!
The Casino and the Palace Hotel, recently completed and inaugurated, looked like two untouched big girls. And in one place and another, the restaurants run by foreigners were excellent, and in the rooms of the new hotel you could believe you were in a `palace’ from Nice or Biarritz! Everything was new and unused and it was sparkling clean!
In Mamaia, the monumental buildings had not yet been erected, there were still old wooden ones; The euphoria did not exist – Carmen Silva, the Movilă hotel (100% Romanian), the clogged bathrooms on the lake, and a few houses. The momentum that the entire region took after the War could not even be suspected along the deserted cliffs covered with mudflats”, mentioned Constantin Argetoianu
Visiting the south of Constanța county
While he stayed in Constanța, Argetoianu also visited the south of the county, which, in his opinion, was less developed than the Quadrilateral, but the land was good for cultivation and the people industrious.
“While I was in Constanța, I made several roads in the southern part of the county – the northern one, towards Tulcea, remaining unknown to me (apart from Lake Razelm) until today (1943) and probably until the end of my days. I liked what I saw; the good cultivated land, industrious and quiet people, quite well cared for cattle. Lack of forests. In general, however, the county is much inferior, in terms of appearance and civilization, to the counties of Quadrilater. In Constanța, the steppe wind, with everything it brings, blows stronger than between Silistra and Bazargic…”, noted Argetoianu.
“I was delighted by Mangalia”
In 1915, Mangalia was more developed than Constanța, and this was recorded by Argetoianu. He also realizes that the city had great possibilities for tourism and commercial development. Also, Mangalia benefits from a beach that rivals those of Ekrene.
“What delighted me was Mangalia. Constanța would be more beautiful, with its spur forward into the sea, but from a utilitarian point of view, Mangalia beats it, because it has everything that Constanța does not. First of all, it has a port that few can find in Southern Europe, because its lake, 9 kilometers long, 2 wide and more than 30 meters deep, can be connected to the sea through a canal of several tens of meters. Such a roadstead could house an entire fleet and civil and military construction sites could be built on its banks.
The fact that the Mangalia railway station is not used is a real crime for those who could have given it life and who did not…
Mangalia also has a wonderful beach, in front of the few villas on the boulevard, a beach better than that of Mamaia (located 4 kilometers from the city), a beach that can only be compared to that of Ekrene, unique in Europe …
Finally, Mangalia also has sulphurous thermal springs, very rich, which could be used by thousands of suffering people, instead of the few dozen who have the courage to face the rudimentary current installations. Won’t someone be found who will take Mangalia’s destinies in hand and raise her to the level to which all her attributes give her the right? ”, Argetoianu wondered.
Constanta developed enormously after the First World War. Mangalia, no
Constantin Argetoianu also mentioned the fact that, during the interwar period, Constanța developed enormously, while in Mangalia there was a total lack of investment.
“In Constanța, much of what I had glimpsed as if in a dream, in 1915, was realized after the war (after the First World War, no). In Mangalia, nothing, and it’s a shame”, Argetoianu concluded his description of the visit he made to Constanța county.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
