Lake Techirghiol
Techirghiol, Constanța County · Dobruja
About Lake Techirghiol
Lake Techirghiol is a former bay of the Black Sea, closed off by a narrow strip of sand that now holds the resorts of Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud; the town of Techirghiol spreads along its northern shore. Geographers call it a liman. It covers almost 11 km² and is no more than 9 m deep, which makes it the largest salt lake in the country. Because it receives very little fresh water, its salt content has risen to 80–95 grams per litre, depending on the source, so in winter the water can drop below 0 °C without freezing.
The lake is famous for the sapropelic mud on its bed, black and greasy, formed as the brine shrimp Artemia salina and the alga Cladophora decompose. On 4 July 1899 the Eforia Spitalelor Civile, the body running Bucharest's civil hospitals, opened the first organised spa establishment on the shore. Its successor, the Techirghiol Spa and Rehabilitation Sanatorium, still uses the lake's mud and water in treatments for rheumatic, neurological, gynaecological and skin conditions.
The lake has been a Ramsar site since 2006 and is a special protection area for birds. The Romanian Ornithological Society has counted 264 bird species in the area, because the lake lies on the Via Pontica, one of Europe's great migration routes.
What you can see
On the Techirghiol shore, the lakeside promenade is a long walk of paths, lawns and benches, which the town hall uses for festivals in summer. In front of the sanatorium lie the Băile Reci (Cold Baths): a sandy beach with changing rooms and showers, where the cold mud is spread on the skin, left to dry in the sun and then washed off in the lake. From behind the promenade it is a few minutes' walk up to the Saint Mary Monastery, with an eighteenth-century wooden church brought from Transylvania.
In winter the lake draws waterbirds. The red-breasted goose, which breeds in Siberia and winters in Dobruja, spends the night on the unfrozen water; the globally threatened white-headed duck has also been recorded here.
Good to know
The Băile Reci only operate in the warm season. The water is very salty: do not dive in and do not swallow it. The mud and the time in the sun are not for everyone, so if you have a chronic illness, ask a doctor first.
- A mud cure at the Băile Reci in front of the sanatorium: the black mud, spread on the skin and dried in the sun, is then washed off in the salt water, where you float without effort.
- A walk along the lakeside promenade in Techirghiol, looking across the water to the blocks of Eforie Nord and the strip of sand that separates the lake from the sea.
- The Saint Mary Monastery, a few minutes from the promenade, with its arcaded eighteenth-century wooden church.
- The flocks of red-breasted geese that roost on the lake in winter, one of the rarest wild geese in the world.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: Techirghiol is about 15 km south of Constanța. From Bucharest, take the A2 to Constanța, then the A4 bypass and the DN39 towards Mangalia. From Eforie Nord, the DJ383 heads west along the northern shore of the lake and reaches Techirghiol after about 5 km; the promenade and the Băile Reci are at the end of Strada Doctor Victor Climescu, next to the sanatorium.
Public transport: minibuses run by several private companies travel daily between Constanța and Techirghiol from morning until evening, leaving from the area of Constanța railway station; timetables are on the bus timetable websites. Trains on the Constanța–Mangalia line stop at Eforie Nord, a few minutes' walk from the eastern shore of the lake.
- Fees & discounts
Walking along the promenade and the lakeshore is free. The Băile Reci in Techirghiol charge for entry, but the Spa Sanatorium does not publish its prices on its website: ask at the entrance or ring the sanatorium. At Băile Reci No. 1 in Eforie Nord, the EFOSAN hospital charges 40 lei per entry, 160 lei for a five-entry pass and 300 lei for a ten-entry pass, and children go in free with a paying parent; mud, showers and sunbeds are included.
- Rules
The lake is a protected area for birds: do not approach or flush the flocks, especially in winter, when they rest on the water. At the baths, the cold mud is applied in a thin layer, you stay in the sun for 30–60 minutes until it dries, then go into the lake and rinse off under the shower; in Eforie Nord the mud may only be used inside the baths. The very salty water stings the eyes and must not be swallowed. The sanatorium's doctors advise against the cure for people with uncontrolled cardiovascular or neurological conditions and for anyone with a fever.
- Facilities
Cold baths with a sandy beach, changing rooms and showers, in summer · lifeguard and medical point at the baths, in season · sunbeds and umbrellas · pedestrian promenade with benches and green spaces · sanatorium with a treatment centre open all year · hotels, guesthouses and restaurants in Techirghiol · the Saint Mary Monastery, close to the promenade
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