Vama Veche

:"This article is about the village of Vama Veche. Vama Veche is also the name of a Romanian rock band."

Vama Veche (historical names: _tr. Ilanlık, "Ilanlâk", "Ilanlâc") is a village in Romania on the Black Sea coast, near the border with Bulgaria, at 28.3 E longitude, 43.5 N latitude. It is part of the commune of Limanu and in 2002, it had a population of 178. [ [http://www.rmri.ro/vv2m/custodie/plan_management_rezervatie.pdf Plan de management al rezervatiei marine 2 mai — Vama Veche] , Reservaţia Marină 2 Mai - Vama Veche, p.40. Accessed 14 October 2006.]

It was founded in 1811 by a few Gagauz families, originally being named "Ilanlîk". Its current name literally means "Old customs point", named so after the Cadrilater was included in Romania in 1913. In 1940, however, that region was ceded to Bulgaria, and the village was once again near the border.

Even in Communist Romania, Vama Veche had a reputation as a non-mainstream tourist destination, which has only grown since the Romanian Revolution of 1989. 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 chose to tolerate this countercultural oasis, as long as people had their identity papers with them. Accommodations consisted of tents or rooms rented from peasants or fishermen. [Alison Mutler, [http://web.archive.org/web/20060220055103/http://www.hrr.ro/articol.php?a=393&s=6&ss=-1 Romanians Fight Over Future of Nude Beach] , Associated Press, 21 August 2003. Originally on the site of Human Rights Watch. Archived on Internet Archive 20 February 2006.] While camping is theoretically not permitted, to this day, many visitors or semi-permanent residents still stay in tents on the beach.

Famous for its nude beach, 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 music festival, which was initiated by the satirical weekly "Academia Catavencu" and other organizations. The August 2003 festival drew a crowd of about 10,000. The 2005 Stufstock drew a record 40,000-large crowd, formed by rockers, bohemians, punkers and goths. Many argue that it has become too popular. 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 being enforced, with no visible new permanent structures being built within the last year.

It is rather hard to find on-line information about accommodation, restaurants or markets in the village, like telephone numbers, concert schedules or prices. One of the few on-line communities where you can find some useful tips could be found on http://www.dordevama.com, only in Romanian though.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.dordevama.com Vama Veche Online Community] (Romanian)
* [http://www.salvativamaveche.ro/ "Save Vama Veche" campaign] (Romanian)
* [http://www.stufstock.com Stufstock music festival]
* [http://www.punkrockhotel.com Punk Rock Hotel in Vama Veche]
* [http://www.rock1.ro Vama Veche... 'radio'...]