April 17, 2016

1669, 2469 ROMANIA (Constanţa) - Costineşti

2469 Costineşti

Posted on 15.06.2015, 17.04.2016
Located on the shore of the Black Sea, about 30km south of Constanţa, Costineşti is a resort mostly frequented by youngsters. The settlement overlaps on the site of a small Greek colony called Parthenopolis. In the Middle Ages it was known as Stratoni in the time of the Byzantines, then Mangeapunar in the time of the Ottomans, with a modest population of Greek fishermen (and, later, Lipovans) and Mocans and Tatars shepherds. Between 1840 and 1940 the village was also populated by so-called Dobrujan Germans, who named it Büffelbrunnen.

1669 Costineşti - The Obelisk

The name Costineşti was taken from Emil Costinescu (landowner and politician of the late 19th century). In the 1960s it appears on the map as Dezrobirea (The Emancipation). In Costineşti, tourism started in the 1920s, with amateur of fishing and of archaeological research, but it began to flourish since 1949, with the inauguration of the first camp for Pioneers. Ten years later was opened the international students' camp, several hundred blue tents placed along the seafront. Soon, it evolved from a fishing village into a summer destination, popular especially among students.

A hotel and some villas and bungalows were erected during the communist era. The most luxurious were reserved for the members of the Union of Communist Youth and for Pioneers, some of them receiving as guests even foreign Communists, so that a part of the coastline received the nickname "Bay of the French". After 1989, some of them have been modernized and new ones were built. The resort also has a small inland lake, around which there are several lodges. The beach is guarded by two symbols: the ship wreck E Evangelia and the Obelisk.  

E Evangelia, a British refrigerated cargo ship turned into commercial ship by Aristotle Onassis, ran aground near the shore in 1968. The rescue would have been too expensive, so the owner preferred to leave it simply to rust. The Obelisk was erected in 1970 on the beach and became in short time the meeting point and the place where most concerts and events were organized. In 2005 it was destroyed by the floods, but the authorities decided to build a new one. The new Obelisk has a height of 18.5m, weighs 200 tonnes and is composed of 6 pieces that suggest the mast of a ship with sails in the wind.

The postcard 1669 is a special one. I bought it myself on the beach of Eforie Sud. As can be seen on the logo in the top left corner, it was issued by a humanitarian organization named Association Relief of Suffering. At the bottom it is written "Thank you, you contributed to save a life."

About the stamp
On the postcard 1669
The stamp, depicting the Romanian actor George Motoi (1936-2015), is part of the series Golden Stars of Stage and Screen, issued on March 1st 2014, and dedicated to some of the most beloved actors of Romania, about which I wrote here.

On the postcard 2469
The stamp is part of the series Folk Art, issued on 1982.

References
Costineşti - Wikipedia
Costineşti, Constanţa (rom) - Wikipedia
Staţiunea Costineşti (rom) - TourismLand
Obeliscul din Costineşti (rom) - Costineşti official website
Descriere Costineşti (rom) - litoralulromanesc.ro 

Sender 1669: Dănuţ Ivănescu
Sent from Eforie Sud (Constanţa / Romania), on 06.08.2014
Sender 2469:
Sent from Costineşti (Constanţa / Romania), on 18.09.1985
Photo: Tereza Pupeza

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