It is situated on the border of the Danube, between Calafat and Turnu Severin, on the place in which, starting with 1880 until the middle of the past century, there functioned an agricultural port from where there was exported corn and floor towards Budapest, Vienne and the German Danube cities.
In 1997, the imposing building of the headman of the port built over 100 years ago by the Italian masters, but for many years it was abandoned and in a ruin state, has been discovered by accident and acquired by Mircea Dinescu at a second public auction. Therefore, the former agricultural port had the chance of coming back to life as “cultural port” after over 50 years since when, together with the instauration of the communist regime, it was closed and transformed into picket by the coastguards.
The idea of a cultural port came on its own: between 1998 – 2007, throughout the period of restoration of the principal buildings, the port was accommodated preponderantly by the artist’s camps, within some projects organized by the Poetry foundation “Mircea Dinescu”. At the beginning there were the ceramists who had built their ovens on the border of the Danube and then even a “Neolithic village” besides the ponds from the old firestone of the village, at Ulmi. Then there came the sculptors who left the first wooden and stone angels. The project “Angel Park” – born at the beginning of the years 2000 as a polemic reaction at the idea of the minister of tourism from that time of building “Dracula Park” – continued to grow, adding in the last years a couple of monumental sculptures made of metal. Starting with 2007, when the foundation, under the auspices of the company Port Cetate, started to renovate / restore also the other buildings situated on the border of the Danube, and after the construction of a modern kitchen and of a mini-hotel, the place also became accessible for the tourism. Also from 2007, after the installation of a new pontoon bridge, there was also re-inaugurated the port, which new periodically receives the tourist cruise ships or the private vessels.
The Citadel Port is today known for its very special gastronomy, inspired by the old aristocrat recipes and produced with only natural ingredients from its own farm, but also for “Dinescu’s Wine”, produced at the wine cellar Galicea Mare. The two plantations from the Citadel and Galicea sum up 100 hectares and include autochthon types as well as noble European types and, although being still young, there reached in the record a couple of exceptional wines.
Today, more and more popular as a tourism destination, the port continues to host cultural events organized under the auspices of the poetry foundation: the Film and culinary art divan from the end of the summer (which already reached in 2015 the 6th edition), SoNoRo Interferences, a chamber music workshop which preceded and prepared the SoNoRo festival, translation camps (together with the Goethe Instituted and the partners from Germany), creative writing camps and residences for the writers within some European exchange programs, theaters shows in collaboration with re-known festivals (the Shakespeare festival from Craiova, the Theatre festival from Sibiu), exhibits, camps and residences for the plastic artists (painting – in collaboration with Zorzini gallery -, sculpture and ceramics), symposiums and cultural meetings with the regional, European and international partners.
