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Sulina, the Romanian most eastern settlement, has a special history.

The locality is mentioned for the first time by Constantin Porfirogenetul in 950 A.D.. In "De administratio imperio", talking about Russian sea runs to Constantinople, the author noted: "After the descent of the seven Nipper's cataracts, they can pass in the Danube Delta through Salinas.

Then, the settlement is mentioned in many portulans and Italian maps, from XIV A.D., such as the portulan of Marino Sanudo in 1320 or the map elaborated by Pietro Visconti in 1327. After this date, the name of the locality is more and more known and mentioned in 1327, 1408, 1480, 1530, 1550, 1561 etc., in the form Selinas or Solina, by foreign travelers or other written sources.

After the occupation of Chilia (1480) and the Danube's mouths, the Turks build a redoubt for the defense and control of the navigation at the entrance in the delta, then they establish in Sulina the headquarters of a regency and install a military garrison in order to counteract the robbery forays of the Cossacks. At the end of XVIII century and the beginning of the next one, the Russian -Turkish wars determined an economical decline and on the social and administrative sides they determined the piracy development simultaneously with the increasing of uncertainty feeling. At the half of the XIX century, Sulina had about 1000 - 1200 inhabitants and the houses were huts made in reed or hutments made from carved trunks of trees. The documents describe the inhabitants as being foreigners: Ionians, Greeks and Maltese, adventurers and robbers.

These pirates of the delta were those who, in 1854, killed the son of the British admiral Parker at his disembarkment from the ship under his command during the Crimea's war. The assassination brought about the revenge of the crew, who bombed the locality, transforming the entire village into ashes.

In 1856, the Paris Peace Congress, which followed the Crimea's war (!853 - 1856), decided the creation of the Danube's European Commission, organism formed by delegates of Austria, France, England, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey, which role was to control and protect the navigation on the Danube. The Danube's European Commission activated in Sulina between 1856 and 1937 and determined the locality's transformation into an important town with a flourishing economy, based on commerce and navigation. Despite the fact that Sulina mouth has the difficulty produced by more alluvia than the other Danube's mouths, still having the advantage of the shortest way, the Danube's European Commission decided, in 1858, the arrangement of this branch.

Based on the projects of the engineer Charles Hartley - named the Danube's father, all the works connected with the Sulina branch rectification, allowing a navigability adequate state have been carried out. Dykes for narrowing the channel and its prolonging into the sea were built in order to improve the silting process.

The arrangements determined also the development of Sulina harbor, which became in this way the most important harbor from the Occidental part of the Black Sea and beginning with 1870 was the first free port in Romania. Due to this status, the goods disembarked or just in transit didn't pay custom fees. The entire services specific to the zone and to its status were done: towing, boats' renting etc. In this way, Sulina became an important transit port with a high warehouse capacity.

the town has been modernized gradually, in the same time with its economic development.

Between 1897 and 1903, the Water works has been built and beginning with 1910, when the Power station was built, the streets and the quays were electrically lighted up. In 1862, the telegraphic line Tulcea - Sulina was realized and in 1903 the telephone service was setup. Measures for the reclamation of the town's platform have been taken.

In that time, Sulina had: 8 consular representations (England's, Austro-Hungarian's, Italy's, Holland's, Denmark's, Turkey's, Norway's and Sweden's), buildings of numerous navigation companies, two hospitals with modern installations, the Danube's European Commission Palace the Post Office, telephone, the theatre with 300 seats, the publishing house. The beach was arranged and the "casino" - not only a restaurant but also place for representations, evening parties and balls- was built.

A statistic document from the beginning of the XX century noted that Sulina had at that time 1886 houses, a hotel and 154 shops. The youth education was made by primary schools: two Romanian, two Greek, one Jewish and a French academy for young ladies. Two greek churches, three Lipovan churches, two German churches (one protestant and one Catholic), an Anglican one, a Jewish temple and two mosques were functioning.

Before the First World War, the population consisted in 4913 inhabitants: 2056 Greeks, 803 Romanians, 601 Russians (Lipovans), 444 Armenians, 268 Turks, 211 Austrians, 173 Jews, 117 Germans, Italians, French people, Danish people etc. Sulina was a cosmopolitan town with a special character.

The tragedy of the First World War determined on one side the economical stagnation due to the stopping of commerce and on the other side determined the destruction of most of the town's buildings. The locality remained almost uninhabited.

After 1920, the settlement has been rebuilt from both economic and urbane points of view. Some buildings recovered their aspect, but most of them, elevated on vacant place or replacing those ruined, were built in the new times manner, all of them being lined with boards made at the saw-mill.

In 1937, Danube's European Commission was repealed. In fact, the big economic crisis from 1929-1933 struck for the first time this organization and in 1937, its entire activity passed under the total control of the Romanian state. Members of the communities which were directly dependent of this commission repatriated. Cosmopolitan life in Sulina ceased its existence.

During the Second World War, the town was strongly bombed. Many buildings were destroyed or disappeared for ever. More, the town entered into the big restriction of the "borders zones". The commercial activities were restrained, most part of the refugees never came back; the economical life was reduced at fishing and manufacture. The new organism for the Danube's mouths administration was The Fluvial Administration of the Low Danube (AFDJ).

During the communist period, nor the industrialization politic, nor the reorganization of the free-port didn't manage to reactivate the Sulina's urbane life.

The old glory and brightness of Sulina is recalled now for the visitors only by some buildings and monuments which resisted to the time, some of them being in a high degree of degradation: the former building of the Administrative Palace (presently AFDJ headquarters), the Orthodox Cathedral Sfântul Nicolae, the Greek church, the Protestant church, the Water Works, the Power Station, the house where the novelist Jean Bart lived (today "Jean Bart" pension), "Camberi" Hotel, the library, the workshops of the Danube's European Commission and, last but not least, the Danube European Commission Lighthouse.

The Danube European Commission Lighthouse was built in 1869 -1870. The building, 17,34m height, in the shape of a truncated cone, is made of bricks, the binding material is lime mortar and it is plastered up outside and inside. The access to the top is ensured by a winding metallic staircase anchored into the masonry. The ground floor has a central hall and two big rooms which are exhibitions' spaces. One of them is hosting the work chamber of Eugeniu P. Botez which pen name is Jean Bart. He was commissary of Sulina harbor and in the First World War he was also military commander. The other room is dedicated to the Danube European Commission.

Another witness of the old times is The maritime cemetery, founded in 1864. It is the place where, especially the foreign citizens found their eternal rest. Most of them were employees of the Danube's European Commission, but also sailors with the most diverse nationalities were buried here. Depending on the main religious faiths of those buried, the cemetery is delimitated in many compartments: the Christian cemetery (the cemetery of the Occidental European churches, the orthodox cemetery, and the old rite orthodox cemetery), the Moslem cemetery, the Jewish cemetery.