Mamaia Casino (Cazinoul din Mamaia) is a historic seaside entertainment complex in Mamaia, part of Constanța, standing close to the beach in the central resort area. Built in the 1930s, it became one of the main landmarks of interwar Mamaia together with the Royal Palace and Hotel Rex.
The present complex was developed on the site of an earlier wooden bathing pavilion from 1905. Construction of the new casino and bathing facilities began in the early 1930s, with architect Victor G. Ștefănescu responsible for the modernist design, which also incorporated Mediterranean influences. The main pavilion, bathing cabins and seafront facilities were completed in stages and the complex was formally inaugurated on 15 August 1935 in the presence of King Carol II.
Despite its name, the building did not begin immediately as a gambling casino. The central pavilion originally contained a restaurant, shops and dining areas, with a terrace upstairs for dancing, while long side wings provided beach cabins and changing facilities. Gambling was introduced only in 1937 and continued for just two years, until 1939, but the name Casino remained attached to the complex.
One of the most distinctive parts of the original ensemble was the Royal Footbridge (Pasarela Regală), which extended from the casino across the beach and out over the sea to a platform with a maritime bar and slide. Together, the casino buildings and footbridge formed the social center of interwar Mamaia, combining bathing, dining, dancing and seaside entertainment in one place.
After the Second World War, the complex was used as a club by the Soviet army while Soviet troops were stationed in Mamaia. It later returned to leisure and commercial use, but the ensemble was gradually altered and, after 1989, parts of it deteriorated significantly. Coastal works that widened the beach have also changed the setting of the old footbridge, which now lies much farther inland than when it originally projected over the sea.
