Constanta sits on the western coast of the Black Sea, 285 km north of Istanbul and the Bosphorus Strait (Turkey) and 200 km north of Varna (Bulgaria).

A former metropolis and Romania's oldest city, as well as the country's largest maritime port, Constanta traces its history back some 2,500 years. Originally called Tomis, legend has it that Jason and the Argonauts visited Constanta after acquiring the Golden Fleece.

Founded by Greek colonists from Miletus in the 6th century BC, Tomis was conquered by the Romans in 71 BC and renamed Constantiana by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in honor of his sister.

Constanta flourished in the 13th century, when Genoese merchants dominated the Black Sea, but the city began to decline two centuries later when it fell under Ottoman rule. During the Ottoman period, its name was shortened to Constanta.

Beautiful mansions and hotels were constructed in the 19th century when King Carol I decided to revive Constanta as a seaside resort and port city.