For lovers of great sports performances and for collectors of postage stamp with Romania’s “golden athletes”, Romfilatelia is releasing, on Friday, May 24th this year, the postage stamps issue “Ivan Patzaichin Museum. Mila 23”.
A postage stamp, a perforated souvenir sheet, a First Day Cover and a maxicard, bring back to the memory of Romanians a top personality of national and world sports, the canoeist Ivan Patzaichin. A phenomenon of the Olympic competitions (4 gold and 3 silver medals), an athlete of exemplary modesty and an active militant for the preservation of the most valuable natural area of Romania, the Danube Delta, Ivan Patzaichin is entered in the golden book of great personalities, in place of honour.
The Ivan Patzaichin Museum is built as a community innovation centre located in the middle of the Delta, at Mila 23 (Crișan Township), the birthplace of the great canoeist that gives it its name.
Built on the site of his parents’ house, the Museum functions as a pole of local development, to prove that building a cohesive, responsible and prosperous community in the long term requires the genuine involvement of local people. Thus, the institution promotes collaboration, learning and participation, providing a space for socialization and expression for community members.
The activities carried out here demonstrate that the revalorization of the history of the area, its culture, biodiversity, together with bringing traditions into contemporaneity can constitute pillars of sustainability that can be replicated in any other area with natural potential.
The museum also includes a dimension of memorial recovery of the complex legacy left by Ivan Patzaichin, by presenting the course of his life and displaying his treasure of medals and awards.
From an architectural point of view, built from sustainable materials, the museum is a model of practices in the field of green building, aligned with the local specifics of the Delta. It consists of 4 bodies with distinct functions: Observatory-museum, cultural centre, administrative and residential area, pontoon pier.
The observatory tower, 18 m high, has four floors. On the ground floor is the “Treasury”; on the first floor, moments from Ivan’s childhood in the village of Mila 23 are presented; on the second floor, his career as an athlete, between the years 1968 and 1984, is shown. One floor up, visitors to the Museum can find out what his achievements were as a coach, and on the fourth floor are exhibited his projects from the period of social entrepreneur, after the 2010s, when he dedicated his energy to supporting Delta communities, promoting a responsible way of life and in harmony with nature, protecting the environment and capitalizing on the Romanian hydrographic heritage.
The highest level of the Observatory – the terrace – opens up to the visitor a new perspective on the beauty and fragility of the Delta.
The Mila 23 Museum represents the “Delta end” of the “Ivan’s Delta” triptych, consisting of: The memorial ensemble – Tulcea, the Ivan Patzaichin Museum – Mila 23 and the slow tourism route that connects them. Slow tourism, cultural tourism and ecotourism, as solutions adapted to the area, can capitalize on a balanced vision of its development, for a healthy Delta, with prosperous people, with tourists interested in the variety of the place. Ivan’s Delta honours, on the one hand, the life and spiritual legacy left by Ivan, and on the other hand, it continues his work, by strengthening his heritage of performance, perseverance and authenticity.
The postage stamp, with a face value of Lei 13, shows the image of Ivan Patzaichin in a resting posture of an optimistic canoeist, in the setting of the museum space at Mila 23.
The souvenir sheet with two well-known portraits of the great athlete has as the image of the stamp (the face value Lei 33), the terminal level of the construction of the memorial museum. The explanatory texts summarize the value of the “golden athlete” Ivan Patzaichin in the figures of the medals won.
The First Day Cover, against a background specific to the water sheen of the Danube Delta, presents the original architecture of the memorial museum, as a convincing symbol of preserving the harmony between man and nature.
A maxicard is added as a special collectible.
Romfilatelia thanks the management of the Ivan Patzaichin – Mila 23 Association, Mr. Teodor Frolu and the photographer Mani Gutău, for the collaboration and documentary support granted to the development of this postage stamps issue.