Techirghiol is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Northern Dobruja

Northern Dobruja

Northern Dobruja is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in south by Bulgarian Southern Dobruja.-Geography:...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, near the town

Techirghiol

-Etymology:The name is derived from the Turkish Tekirgöl which means "the lake of Tekir".According to a legend, a blind and crippled old man named Tekir and his old donkey reached the shore of the lake by mistake...

 with the same name.

Etymology

The name of the lake comes from the Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

Tekirgöl, meaning "Tekir's lake".
The name also means (in Turkish) "Striped Lake" (tekir - striped, and göl - lake). This is because of the salinity of the lake; when the wind blows, white salt stripes appear on the surface of the lake.

Legend of Tekir

The legend says that once upon a time a crippled and blind old man named Tekir, riding on the back of his donkey, reached by mistake the shore of this lake. The old man strove for hours to get out of that smelly mud, but his stubborn donkey didn't want to move at all, as if a mysterious force were not letting him go out of the lake. It was with great wonder and joy that the old man realised, when getting out of the lake, that his eyes could perceive again a beam of light, and his feet that had stopped helping him a long time ago began to obey him. As for his wise donkey - its bad wounds on the back had healed, and his body was younger than ever. When they found out about this, lots of people rushed to the shore of the lake, bathing and putting mud all over their bodies so that they'd be cured.

Tekir and his donkey are featured in a statue located in the center of the town of Techirghiol.

Health

Therapeutic recommendations: Healing of chronic and degenerative rheumatism, arthritis, spondylosis, post-traumatic and post-surgery sequelae, peripheral nervous system diseases, rhino-pharyngitis, gynecologic affections by applying sapropelic mud from the lake Techirghiol.