CONSTANTZA (Constanta)  , formerly known as Kustendji or Kustendj2, a seaport on the Black Sea, and capital of the department of Constantza, Rumania; 140 M . E. by S. from Bucharest by rail . Pop . (1900) 12,725 . When the Dobrudja was ceded to Rumania in 1878, Constantza was partly rebuilt . In its clean and broad streets there are many synagogues, mosques and churches, for half the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, Moslems, Armenians or Jews; the remainder being Orthodox Rumans and Greeks . In the vicinity there are mineral springs, and the sea-bathing also attracts many visitors in summer . The chief local industries are tanning and the manufacture of petroleum drums . The opening, in 1895, of the railway to Bucharest, which crosses the Danube by a bridge at Cerna Voda, brought Constantza a considerable transit trade in grain and petroleum, which are largely exported; coal and coke head the list of imports, followed by machinery, iron goods, and cotton and woollen fabrics . The harbour, protected by breakwaters, with a light-house at the entrance, is well defended from the north winds, but those from the south, south-east, and south-west prove sometimes highly dangerous . In 1902 it afforded 10 alongside berths for shipping . It had a depth of 22 ft. in the old or inner basin, and of 26 ft. in the new or outer basin, beside the quays .

The railway runs along the quays . A weekly service between Constantza and

Constantinople is conducted by state-ownedsteamers, including the fast mail and passenger boats in connexion with the Ostend and Orient expresses . In 1902, 576 vessels entered at Constantza, with a net registered tonnage of 641,737 . The Black Sea squadron of the Rumanian fleet is stationed here . Constantza is the Constantiana which was founded in honour of Constantia, sister of Constantine the Great (A.D . 274–337) . It lies at the seaward end of the Great Wall of Trajan, and has evidently been surrounded by fortifications of its own . In spite of damage done by railway contractors (see Henry C . Barkley, Between the Danube and the Black Sea, 1876) there are considerable remains of ancient masonry—walls, pillars, &c . A number of inscriptions found in the town and its vicinity show that close by was Tomi, where the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.–A.D . 17) spent his last eight years in exile . A statue of Ovid stands in the main square of Constantza .

In regard to the Constantza inscriptions in

general, see Allard, La Bulgaria orientale (Paris, 1866) ; Desjardins in Ann. dell' istit. di corr. arch . (1868) ; and a paper on Weickum's collection in Sitzungsbericht of the Munich Academy (1875) .