The Chilia Arm carries the largest volume of water of all Danube branches.
Its strong currents continuously reshape islands, sandbanks, and shorelines. Villages along this arm live with constant change, erosion, and renewal.
The arm forms a natural border between Romania and Ukraine, making Chilia Veche a settlement defined as much by political geography as by physical landscape.
The Danube Delta is one of Europe's most biodiverse regions, hosting hundreds of bird species, dozens of fish species, and vast reed beds.
Chilia Veche lies within a protected biosphere reserve, where human activity must coexist with strict conservation rules.
Floods, freezing winters, and seasonal water level changes define life in Chilia Veche.
Architecture, transport, and daily routines are adapted to the river's rhythms. Houses are built on elevated ground or stilts. Boats are not luxuries but necessities.
The river gives and the river takes. It provides fish, transport, and connection to the outside world. It also isolates, floods, and constrains. Life here is a negotiation with water.