Braila
Romania's second Danube port reviving its 19th-century grain trade role for Ukrainian wheat transit
First mentioned as Drinago in 1350, Braila became Romania's gateway to the world—the second-largest Danube port, handling grain from Wallachian plains bound for Antwerp and Liverpool. Turkish occupation from 1554 to 1828 paused but couldn't stop its riverine destiny; after liberation, the late 19th century brought Braila's golden age as the outlet for Romanian wheat feeding industrializing Europe. That grain trade DNA reactivated in 2024 when Russia's Black Sea Grain Initiative withdrawal rerouted Ukrainian wheat through Braila alongside Galati. The city that could handle oceangoing vessels 170 kilometers from the sea now processes 25,000 tons in its grain depot, though post-1989 population decline from industrial collapse haunts a port waiting for its next transformation.