The legends of Lake Siutghiol

The Romanian seaside is full of beautiful lakes that used to be mouths of rivers that discharged into the sea. With time, the waves deposited a strip of sand along the shore, separating the lakes from the sea. This is the way Lake Siutghiol was formed, a lake that is one of the preferred places at the Romanian seaside for water sports like Nautic ski and yachting. Another interesting thing about this lake that it has a small calcareous island called Ovid’s Island.

There are many wonderful legends about the way the lake came into existence, most being variations upon the idea that there used to be a village of mean people that were drowned when the lake formed. They were punished because they refused to show kindness to people in need.

One of the legends says that a stranger wandered into the village of mean people on a holiday, when everybody was at home. He asked a few of them for a warm bed, but they all refused him. The man kept walking until he reached the end of the village, where there was the house of a poor, but kind woman. She welcomed him in her home, but cried because she had no food to give him. The man told her to put some manure in the ashes under the oven and after she did, she discovered that a loaf of bread had appeared in the ashes. The woman gave her guest the delicious bread and he feasted on it. Every time the man tore a piece of the bread, it would grow back, so that the bread remained whole. The second day, after the man had left, the woman discovered that the whole village was submersed under the waters of a lake and that the piece of land where her house stood was the only one that had not been covered. The lake was Siutghiol and the island, Ovid’s Island.

Another version of the legend says that there was once a village of rich, but mean people, among which, there was only one woman who was good. One day, when the woman was away from home, a gang of thieves went into her home and stole everything they could find as well as her beautiful daughter. The woman was horrified when she discovered this and pleaded with her neighbors for help. But none of the people agreed to come to the woman’s aid. So she did the only thing she could do, which was pray to God. God answered her prayer and a torrential rain began, which drowned both the village and the thieves. The waves brought the woman’s daughter back safe and sound. Again, the only piece of land not covered by the water was the one on which stood the woman’s house.   

Sources:

http://www.black-sea.travel/legenda-lacului-siutghiol/

http://www.ziuaconstanta.ro/stiri/social/legenda-lacului-siutghiol-un-sat-cu-oameni-rai-s-a-scufundat-in-loc-a-aparut-o-apa-mare-si-adanca-451425.html