Romania · Dobrogea

Lacul Babadag

Directions

Lake Babadag lies north of the town of Babadag in Tulcea County, between Babadag, Enisala and Zebil, west of Lake Razim, and it is part of the Razim–Sinoie lagoon complex, a Ramsar wetland within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. It is shallow, up to about 3 m deep, and about 8.75 km long.

How it formed

Canals feed it, and the Enisala canal links it to Razim. The Taița and Telița rivers form marshy floodplains that connect to the lake, and it supplies the Babadag irrigation system.

History

Enisala fortress stands on a limestone hill above Babadag and Razim. Built in the second half of the 14th century, probably by Genoese merchants, it later joined the defences of Wallachia under Mircea the Old, and it was abandoned around the end of the 15th century, as the Ottomans advanced and sand bars cut Razim off from the sea.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

For the fortress, take the E87 between Tulcea and Babadag, then road DJ 223A to Enisala, about 2 km from the ruins; its walls and bastions still stand 5–10 m high in places, and the view takes in the canals between the two lakes. It has been open Wednesday to Sunday, so check first. Anglers fish for carp, crucian carp, bream, pike-perch and eel, with seasons from 1 March to 15 April and 15 July to 1 December.