Izvoarele, Tulcea
Izvoarele is a commune in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Alba, Iulia, and Izvoarele.
Location
The commune is located in the central-west part of the county, southwest of the county seat, Tulcea. It is crossed by national road, which starts in Nalbant, to the east and ends in Horia, to the west.History and Greek community
Izvoarele was founded by Greeks from Saranta Ekklisies, when they, in order to avoid Turkish retaliation during the Greek Revolution of 1821, followed the Imperial Russian Army and settled in the area. Initially, their plan was to settle in the Russian Empire, but in 1830 they decided to return to Greece. On their way to their homeland, they were stopped in this area and remained there. This became perhaps the largest purely Greek community in Europe excluding Greece.In Izvoarele, a church operates in the Greek language and there is a Greek school that has been banned at times. Greek school classes continue today at the Cultural Center of the Greek Community. There is also a new Greek restaurant in Izvoarele named "ELINIKO" that opened in 2024. The main road of Izvoarele is "Str. Megas Alexandros".
On January 22, 2023, a twinning ceremony was held between the municipality of Paionia and the community of Izvoarele.