The northernmost, most voluminous and most untamed arm of the Danube — natural border, ecological laboratory and the backbone of life in Chilia Veche.
The Chilia Branch is the northernmost and most voluminous of the Danube's three main arms — carrying approximately 60% of the river's total discharge.
From its bifurcation at Pătlăgeanca to its mouth at the Black Sea, the Chilia Branch traverses a region of exceptional geographical complexity. It is navigable for barges and ocean-going vessels, with depths reaching 39 m in the thalweg zones.
The name Chilia is of Greek origin — κελλία — meaning "chambers" or "storehouses", referring to the medieval port-fortress on its bank. In Byzantine and Genoese chronicles, the branch appeared as Lykostoma ("wolf's mouth") or Licostomo, and was the delta's main navigation route — contested over centuries by Byzantines, Bulgarians, Russians, Tatars, Genoese, Wallachians, Moldavians and Turks.
The Chilia Branch today forms the natural border between Romania and Ukraine, with some boundary adjustments established by the Romanian-Soviet additional protocol of 4 February 1948. At its mouth, the branch forms an active secondary delta — the most dynamic alluvial zone in the entire European delta — advancing into the Black Sea by 40–80 m per year.
Along its course, single-channel sections alternate with bifurcation zones, where the secondary arms Tătaru (13.6 km), Cernovca and Babina branch off. The banks are dominated by dense reed beds, willow and poplar forests, sandy ridges and a labyrinth of secondary channels — the wildest and least engineered of the Danube's three arms.
The northern delta around Chilia Veche is home to some of Europe's most important nature reserves.
A nature reserve of 9,625 ha, protected since 1940 and declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1979. It hosts Europe's largest colony of great white pelican — over 3,500 nesting pairs of Pelecanus onocrotalus. Access is strictly forbidden without special authorisation.
An interconnected lake complex of 22,560 ha, recognised as an internationally important habitat for waterbirds. It protects the strictly protected zones of Roșca–Buhaiova, Letea Forest and Lake Răducu, with spectacular colonies of pelicans and egrets.
One of Europe's most cited examples of ecological restoration. Converted into agricultural polders during communism, these 3,780 ha were reconnected to the Danube's natural regime in 1994. The project received the European Commission's Eurosite Award and WWF's Conservation Merit Award.
A secondary arm of the Chilia, 13.6 km long, also known as Tatomir. It partly follows the Romanian-Ukrainian border as defined by the 1948 protocol. It encompasses ecosystems characteristic of the northern delta, including spawning and feeding habitats.
Terrestrial fauna of the area includes the otter (Lutra lutra), European mink (Mustela lutreola), stoat, muskrat and raccoon dog. Aquatic flora is dominated by white and yellow water lilies, Trapa natans and Stratiotes aloides.
Fishing was never a simple occupation for the delta's inhabitants — it was the backbone of existence, a heritage passed from father to son.
For centuries, communities of Lipovan Russians, Romanians and Ukrainians developed techniques adapted to local conditions — deep knowledge of the waters, currents, and where each species rests in each season. Every house had a boat at the gate — not as an ornament, but as a basic tool, as necessary as a plough would be elsewhere.
Local knowledge — the names of channels, fishing spots, the deep pools where catfish rest — was an oral capital passed from generation to generation, as valuable as any tool or boat.
The fisherman's daily rhythm revolved around trips on the water: checking nets at dawn, bringing the catch to the cherhana (the fish collection and trading point), repairing gear, then back on the water. The cherhana was the economic centre of the fishing community. Monday was delivery day — a fisherman with 200–300 kg of crucian carp could earn 1,000 lei on a good day.
The lotca is the delta's emblematic traditional vessel — a wooden boat with raised and curved bow and stern, designed for reed beds and waves alike.
The word "lotcă" comes from Russian — лодка (boat) — likely adopted alongside the settlement of the Lipovans at the Danube's mouth. The vessel type is attested since antiquity under the names horeia or horia. Lengths generally range from 3 to 8 metres.
The lotca was traditionally manoeuvred with long oars, removable sails, and sometimes poles pushed against the riverbed. It was built from pine or oak, and boat-building was a respected specialisation in delta communities.
The lotca was once the centre of existence for delta inhabitants. The wealthy also had a cart — a lotca, everyone had. It was a means of transport, a fishing instrument and a vehicle for reeds, wood and beehives.
No new wooden lotca has been built since 2006, and the traditional workshops have disappeared. In response, in 2014, at the initiative of Ivan Patzaichin, a tourist lotca was designed to preserve the vessel's identity while adapting it for contemporary use. Patzaichin also invented the canotca — a combination of canoe and lotca — launched in 2010, with the first rental centre opening at Crișan in 2012.
In the Danube Delta, two main types of fishing gear are legally accepted: the vintir and the talian — each with its own capture logic.
Made of 3 to 5 hoops about 120 cm in diameter, forming successive chambers from which fish cannot escape. It works on passive capture — fish enter on their own, driven by current or prey.
A large device enclosing a wide stretch of water. At one end it forms a triangle called obor, guiding fish toward the final capture chamber. It has guiding wings — marine talians are installed at least 2 nautical miles apart.
A vertical net set in the water, in which fish become snagged by their gills or fins. Used mainly in winter (November–March), during permitted periods under prohibition orders. Family permit: maximum 2 setci.
The vârsă (a wicker or wire trap for shallow waters), the năvod (a large seine net for collective fishing), rod and line (for recreational fishing).
Active catfish hunting in which the fisherman strikes the water surface with a special instrument, producing a distinctive sound that draws catfish up from pools more than 20 m deep. A technique unique to the Chilia Branch.
The delta fisherman's technical vocabulary includes: ghionderul (a hooked pole for checking nets), tacâmul (fish heads and tails for soups), vatra (a fish's favourite spot), cioata (a submerged trunk, natural shelter), praful (the deep channel bed where fish gather against a strong current).
The delta's cuisine is structured around fish. The local philosophy is one of functional simplicity: fresh raw ingredients allowed to speak for themselves.
The delta's most emblematic dish. Beyond fish, only four vegetables form the base: potato, onion, bell pepper and tomato — plus salt, vinegar and fresh lovage. The fish should be as varied as possible and always fresh. Traditional serving: first the boiled fish (rasol) with garlic sauce and polenta, then the broth as soup.
The pièce de résistance of delta cuisine. A fine, slightly sour soup traditionally made from sturgeon (now often replaced by catfish), slow-cooked with onion and pepper, the broth finished with egg yolk and sour cream, crowned with fresh dill. Found in only a few localities — Sfântu Gheorghe is known for its authentic storceag.
A large carp, salted and grilled on a hot plate until it forms a crispy crust, then immediately plunged into boiling brine with tomatoes, pepper, garlic and herbs. Served with warm polenta. Listed by UNESCO among the most delicious dishes from protected areas worldwide.
The fisherman's everyday food — lightly salted fish (mala soli = little salt in Old Slavonic), soaked in water for a day, then boiled with carrots and served with jacket potatoes and garlic sauce beaten with oil. Eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
An oven dish specific to Lipovan tradition: fish baked with onion, tomatoes, bay leaves, oil and wine. Slow preparation, concentrated flavour.
Crucian carp scored deeply on both sides (to mince the fine bones), fried in oil, served with polenta and garlic sauce beaten with oil — or brine on a griddle. A simple dish with iconic status in the delta.
The Danube Delta has always been a zone of ethnic and cultural intersection — Lipovans, Romanians and Ukrainians cohabiting and building together a unique way of life.
Lipovan Russians (Старообрядцы, Old Believers) arrived in the delta around 300 years ago, fleeing religious persecution from Tsarist Russia after the Schism of 1666. Major communities at Mila 23, Letea, C.A. Rosetti, Periprava. Romanians are the majority, with a long historical presence. Ukrainians are concentrated mainly in the Chilia Branch zone.
The delta's fishing vocabulary is itself a document of cultural exchange: it contains terms of Slavic, Greek, Turkish and Romanian origin, layered over centuries of cohabitation.
The identity of delta communities is strongly tied to fish, water, boat and horizon — not to land, roads or cities.
Claca — the tradition of voluntary mutual help between neighbours when building houses or bringing in harvests — was a social institution as present among Lipovans as in other rural communities.
Traditional delta architecture is a vernacular architecture radically adapted to its environment: humidity, flooding, limited access to industrial building materials.
Reed roofs last over 100 years if laid correctly by skilled craftsmen. Two traditional techniques exist: Russian-style (bundles laid from ridge to eave) and German-style (short overlapping layers on dense battens). The craft is disappearing — the Letea UNESCO association advocates for its inscription as intangible heritage.
White-rendered facades with wooden elements painted in the traditional Lipovan blue — a cerulean shade with strong identity significance for the community. Fretwork gables with geometric, floral or zoomorphic ornaments — elements of Slavic mythology carried from the homeland.
Lejanka (ležat = to lie down in Russian) — an earthen sleeping bench built as an extension of the stove, warming as it heats. Bania — the steam bath (Lipovan sauna), a separate structure for fire safety reasons. It was the first structure a new family would build.
Houses are built lengthwise, with the main facade facing the flower garden (dvor), not the street. Since 2008, new constructions in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve must comply with the traditional architecture of the area.
Life in the delta has always followed the rhythm of the water — spring floods that brought fish, warm summers on the channels, rich autumn catches, slow winters on the ice.
The Lipovan community brought with it a strict liturgical calendar (Old Rite, staroverîi), which structured social life: fasting days, religious celebrations, codes of conduct. The bania (Lipovan steam bath) was a weekly ritual, not merely a hygiene practice. The community choir (Sinicika from Mila 23 is a documented example) was a living institution.
The economic rhythm was also dictated by the cherhana — the fish collection point, which opened and closed the season. Family fishing — distinct from commercial fishing — was regulated by law, allowing locals to use traditional gear for their own consumption within certain limits, tax-free.
The clearest signal of the pressures on delta life is severe demographic decline.
The causes overlap: youth emigration to cities and abroad; ageing of those remaining; declining fish stocks through overfishing and poaching; regulations perceived as ill-suited to local realities; geographical isolation with no roads or medical services; climate damage from prolonged droughts and hydrological changes.
The delta ecosystem survived a systematic assault during the communist era: Nicolae Ceaușescu ordered partial drainage of the delta for agriculture — dykes, drained lakes, dozens of canals dug north-south, destroying the natural hydrological circuits.
The ecological restoration initiated after 1990 by the DDBR Administration, with support from WWF and research institutes, reconnected the Babina and Cernovca zones to the natural regime, with internationally recognised results.
In 2003 and again in 2024–2025, historic lows below 2,000 m³/s were recorded at the country's entry point, causing channels to dry up and affecting biodiversity and fishing.
Nearly tripled since summer 2022 due to the war, cargo vessels on the Chilia destroy fishing nets and introduce pollutants — engine oil slicks — into the delta ecosystem.
Initiated by Ukraine in 2004, partially halted after international interventions in 2006. Diverted additional water toward the Chilia Branch and reduced flow on the Sulina and St George branches.
Unauthorised drone flights over bird colonies, illegal entry into strictly protected zones, poaching of valuable species (sturgeon, large catfish), and uncontrolled tourism in sensitive areas.
Shifts in precipitation patterns, prolonged droughts and extreme Danube level variations affect both biodiversity and the communities that depend on fishing for their livelihood.