Fishery, Mahmudia, Tulcea County

This exhibit comes from Mahmudia, a fishing-village located on the Saint George branch of the Danube in Tulcea County. It was brought to the Museum in December of 1972 and rebuilt on the shores of the museum’s artificial pond. The fishery or „cherhana” has been a specialized structure since the early 18th century. In fishing areas it has been used to store the daily catch for partial processing and then eventual transportation to the market where industrial processing and sale would occur.
The main parts of the building are the „cherhana” proper, the ice-cellar, the summer-kitchen, the shade-shield for the boats and the fishermen's temporary shelter. The building rests on oak piles, is constructed from fir-boards, and has a reed-thatched, two sloped roof.
The floor plan has two functionally distinct rooms. The first is the office where the books are kept and the second is the "cherhana" proper where the catch is brought and partially processed. Partial processing would include the gutting, salting, and roe extraction.
The vats, the ice and salt-crushing machine, the balance, and some fishing equipment are also kept here. The front of the building has a porch, or „michilie”, running along its entire length. This porch also serves as a pier and during good weather some of the operations of the fishery would also be performed here.
These activities would include receiving, weighing, sorting, washing, gutting and salting the fish. The pontoon is six meters long and is built at a right angle to the porch. It is built on piles and also serves as a pier.