Mlaștina Hergheliei Nature Reserve
Mangalia, Constanța County · Dobruja
About Mlaștina Hergheliei Nature Reserve
North of Mangalia, between the DN39 and the road linking the Saturn and Venus resorts, lies a stretch of reeds and shallow water that locals know as the Mangalia or Saturn pond. It is a former lagoon, left behind the sand bar on which the hotels were built, and it takes its name from Herghelia Mangalia, the Arabian horse stud nearby. Since 2004, under Government Decision No. 2151, its 98 hectares have been a mixed nature reserve, a protected area of national importance.
What makes it special is the water. More than twenty sulphurous, mesothermal springs rise through the muddy bed of the pond, with bubbles of methane and hydrogen sulphide and a temperature of around 25 °C. The water is only half a metre to a metre deep, and the islands of reeds and bulrushes, hard for people to reach, give the birds a quiet place to feed and nest.
The reserve also belongs to the Natura 2000 site ROSCI0114 "Mlaștina Hergheliei – Obanul Mare și Peștera Movilei", managed by the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas. Movile Cave, part of the same site, is not open to the public.
What you can see
In spring and autumn, on passage, whooper swans, greylag geese and, more rarely, red-breasted geese stop on the open water, while little and great egrets, white storks, avocets, black-winged stilts and ruffs feed along the edges. The species recorded here also include black tern, common tern, Kentish plover, smew and great white pelican, and cormorants shelter in the reed beds. The best overall view is from above: if you stay in one of the tower hotels in the north of Saturn, the upper floors look out over the whole pond, with the reeds and the hills behind.
Good to know
The reserve has no facilities for visitors: there are no paths, towers or observation points, no visitor centre and no information panels. The banks are covered in reeds, so the birds are watched from the edge of the surrounding roads, with binoculars. Do not go into the reeds or disturb the birds, especially in the nesting season.
- The panorama of the whole pond from the upper floors of the tower hotels in the north of Saturn, with open water between the reed islands.
- The flocks of swans, geese and ducks that stop on the open water during spring and autumn passage.
- Egrets and black-winged stilts feeding in the shallows near the banks, visible through binoculars from the roadside.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: the reserve lies right against the DN39 (E87), the coast road between Constanța and Mangalia, on its eastern side, between the turn-off for Saturn and the one for Venus; Constanța is ~40 km away, the centre of Mangalia ~3 km. On the seaward side it is bounded by the road linking Saturn and Venus.
Public transport: Mangalia railway station, the end of the Constanța–Mangalia line, is at the south-western edge of the Saturn resort, from where you can walk to the pond north of the resort. Goldterm Mangalia's electric buses, which link the town with the resorts (including the Mangalia–Olimp route), stop in Saturn and Venus.
- Where to park
The reserve has no car park of its own. Leave the car in the public car parks and streets of Saturn and Venus, a few minutes' walk from the edge of the pond. Do not stop on the hard shoulder of the DN39, where traffic is heavy in summer.
- Fees & discounts
Access is free; there is no charge to look at the reserve.
- Rules
This is a protected natural area: do not go into the reed beds, pick plants, feed or disturb the birds, light fires or leave litter. Stay on the roads and pavements around it. For bird photographs bring binoculars or a long lens, as the open water is some way from the banks. In summer, bring mosquito repellent.
- Facilities
No facilities in the reserve: no paths, towers or observation points, no panels, toilets or water · shops, terraces and toilets in the Saturn and Venus resorts, a few minutes' walk away
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