The Spiru Haret National College (Colegiul Dobrogean „Spiru Haret”) is a historic secondary school in Tulcea, occupying one of the city’s most imposing educational buildings. The institution was founded in 1883 as the Gimnaziul Real de Băieți and developed into the oldest secondary-school institution in Tulcea County.
The school initially occupied an older building erected during the Ottoman period, before moving into a new purpose-built school in 1902. That early 20th-century building no longer survives, and the complex seen today was created in several later stages. The north wing was constructed in 1925–1926 through a public fundraising campaign initiated by school director Constantin Motomancea and designed by architect C. Hârjeu. The central section followed in the late 1920s to plans by Gh. Brătescu, creating the core of the present monumental façade.
A third wing was added on the south side in the early 1970s, designed as a counterpart to the earlier northern wing and giving the complex the more symmetrical appearance it has today. Despite being assembled over different periods, the three sections read as a single large institutional building, with long façades, regular window rows and a strong central emphasis typical of interwar school architecture.
The institution changed names several times as Romania’s education system developed. From 1903 until 1941 it was known as Prince Carol High School (Liceul Principele Carol), while the name Spiru Haret was adopted in 1971 in honor of the mathematician and education reformer. In 1996, the school became Colegiul Dobrogean „Spiru Haret”, before receiving its current name, Colegiul Național „Spiru Haret”, in 2023.
