Vama Veche

Vama Veche (historical names: Ilanlâk, Ilanlâc, Turkish: Ilanlık) is a village in Constanţa County, Romania, on the Black Sea coast, near the border with Bulgaria, at 28.57 E longitude, 43.75 N latitude.

During the communist era, concern for border patrol sight lines spared Vama Veche the development that occurred in other Romanian Black Sea resorts.

It became a hangout for intellectuals; for reasons that are not exactly clear, the generally repressive regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu chose to tolerate this countercultural oasis, as long as people had their identity papers with them.

Thirty years ago, dolphins and sea horses were the main symbol of Vama Veche, but now, due to pollution they all are part of the endangered species.

In the annual report from the National Institute for Marine Development- Grigore Antipa, is stipulated that, as we speak, in Vama Veche are 220 species with different grades of endangerment, while 23% are extinct due to human and toxic waste.