THE VALORIZATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF CALLATIS FORTRESS THROUGH HISTORICAL TOURISM

Abstract

Romania has several historic heritage sites which date back to Greek and Roman times. Among them, an important place is held by the Callatis Fortress located in the city of Mangalia. Callatis was built during the 4^th century BC by the greek colonists who came from Pontic Heracleea. Callatis has a lot of archaeological attractions on the shore, such as: the Princiar Tombstone, the Papyrus Tombstone, the Archeological Museum of Callatis and the hellenistic fortress ruins. Southeastwards of Mangalia, 6-7 metres under the sea level, on a surface of about 2 hectares, vestiges of the ancient fortress were discovered, findings that have boosted the visitors interest in underwater archaeological tourism, the construction of an underwater touristic park, similar to the ones from Baiae, Caesareea and Alexandria from Egypt, being taken into account. The Fortress of Callatis has great historical tourism potential, recently being observed an increasing interest concerning the archaeological and historical aspects of the ancient Greek settlement.