Vama Veche
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the village of Vama Veche. Vama VecheVama Veche (band)Vama Veche was a Romanian soft rock band, founded in 1996, the same year in which they recorded the song that would become a big hit in Romania the following year, "Nu am chef azi".Their first concert took place on 28th November 1996 at Lăptaria lui Enache....
is also the name of a RomaniaRomaniaRomania 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...
n rock band.
Vama Veche (historical names: Ilanlâk, Ilanlâc) is a village in 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...
on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast, near the border with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, at 28.57 E longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
, 43.75 N latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
. It is part of the commune of Limanu
Limanu
-Villages:The commune includes four villages:* Limanu * 2 Mai* Hagieni * Vama Veche -2 Mai:...
and in 2002, it had a population of 178.
History
It was founded in 1811 by a few GagauzGagauz people
The Gagauz people are Turkic speaking group living mostly in southern Moldova , southwestern Ukraine , south-eastern Romania and northeastern Bulgaria. Unlike most other Turkic speaking people, the Gagauz are predominantly Orthodox Christians...
families, originally being named "Ilanlîk". Its current name literally means "Old customs point", named so after Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra...
(the Cadrilater) had been included in 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...
in 1913. In 1940, however, that region was ceded to Bulgaria
Treaty of Craiova
The Treaty of Craiova was signed on 7 September 1940 between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under the terms of this treaty, Romania returned the southern part of Dobruja to Bulgaria and agreed to participate in organizing a population exchange...
, and the village has since lain once again near the border.
Even in Communist Romania
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, Vama Veche had the reputation of a non-mainstream tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
destination, which has only grown since the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
. During the communist era, concern for border patrol sight lines spared Vama Veche the development that occurred in other Romanian Black Sea resorts. It became a hangout for intellectuals; for reasons that are not exactly clear, the generally repressive regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
chose to tolerate this countercultural
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
oasis, as long as people had their identity papers with them. Accommodations consisted of tents or rooms rented from peasants or fishermen. While camping is theoretically not permitted, to this day, many visitors or semi-permanent residents still stay in tents on the beach.
Recent developments
Famous for its nude beachNude beach
A nude beach is a beach where users are legally at liberty to be nude. Sometimes the terms clothing-optional beach or free beach are used. Nude bathing is one of the most common forms of nudity in public. As beaches are usually on public lands, any member of the public is entitled to use the...
, since the late 1990s Vama Veche has experienced development and gentrification, which has led to a "Save Vama Veche" campaign that is lobbying for the area's environmental conservation and a halt to development and mass tourism. A major part of the "Save Vama Veche" campaign is the 2003 founding of the Stufstock
Stufstock
Stufstock is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003 in Vama Veche, Dobrogea, Romania, to protest against what some people may consider bad quality music Stufstock (Stuf - Romanian for reed - and stock from Woodstock) is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003...
music festival. Both "Save Vama Veche" campaign and Stufstock
Stufstock
Stufstock is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003 in Vama Veche, Dobrogea, Romania, to protest against what some people may consider bad quality music Stufstock (Stuf - Romanian for reed - and stock from Woodstock) is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003...
Festival were initiated by the "Association for the Conservation of Bio-Cultural Protected Areas" NGO. The August 2003 festival drew a crowd of about 10,000. The 2004 edition drew about 20,000 people. The 2005 Stufstock drew a record 40,000-large crowd, formed mainly by rockers
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, bohemians
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
, punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
ers and goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
s.
In 2004, allegedly as a result of the campaign, legislation was enacted, limiting construction of new housing and roads or paving of existing roads. As of 2006, this seems to be enforced, with no visible new permanent structures being built within the preceding year.