MUDNETT

Techirghiol Lake

The name of the lake comes from the Turkish Tekirgol, meaning "Tekir's lake". The name also means (in Turkish) "Striped Lake" (tekir - striped, and gol - lake).
This is because of the salinity of the lake; when the wind blows, white salt stripes appear on the surface of the lake.
The legend says that once upon a time a crippled and blind old man named Tekir, riding on the back of his donkey, reached by mistake the shore of this lake.
The old man strove for hours to get out of that smelly mud, but his stubborn donkey didn't want to move at all, as if a mysterious force were not letting him go out of the lake.
It was with great wonder and joy that the old man realised, when getting out of the lake, that his eyes could perceive again a beam of light, and his feet that had stopped helping him a long time ago began to obey him.
As for his wise donkey - its bad wounds on the back had healed, and his body was younger than ever.
When they found out about this, lots of people rushed to the shore of the lake, bathing and putting mud all over their bodies so that they'd be cured.
Tekir and his donkey are featured in a statue located in the center of the town of Techirghiol.

Key secret agents

Phyllopod crustacean Artemia Salina, actively involved in peloido-genesis, is the most important filtration agent and has three generations in Techirghiol Lake, depending on weather conditions: April-May, June and August to September.
Artemia Salina is of great importance for Techirghiol Lake as bodies fall to the bottom of the lake and by bacterial decomposition forms sapropelic mud with active mineral components that give great therapeutic value,
Artemia Salina is a primitive crustacean belonging to subclass Branchiopoda (with feet turned in gills). The specie lives in waters with high and variable salinity. The animal always swims on its back (feet up), lamellar leg movement generating a flowing stream going in a groove on the underside. It replicates by cysts, very resistant to adverse conditions (drought, frost, etc.).
The therapy mud forming process is completed by an algae named Cladophora cristalina. The Cladophora species can be a major nuisance causing major alteration to benthic conditions linked particularly with increased phosphorus loading