One morning in Serbia, after breakfast, we did not go on an excursion as we usually did. Instead, we went sight-seeing by our big riverboat. Sadly, the photographs I took that morning have disappeared out of my camera and off the hard drive to which I had loaded them and it appeared, off face of the earth. Vanished just like sanity in the Congress of the United States of America. And I was sad. In the afternoon, using the same memory card, camera, and computer everything was in order. Why was that? I had no idea.

The photo above was taken later that afternoon. The fortress is called Golubac Castle and it guards the Iron Gates Gorge. I will say more about it in the next post.

We were in the region of the Danube referred to as Iron Gates Gorge. It is really a series of gorges.  The biggest is Đerdap on the Serbian side of the Danube River. It was spectacular. The gorges form the boundary between Serbia to the south and Romania to the north.

It encompasses a route of 134 km (83 mi) but is really just the last barrier on the route. It has 2 hydro-electric dams and 2 power stations. On the Romanian side it constitutes Đerdap National Park and Iron Gates National Park on the Romanian side. A wider protected area was declared on the Serbian side and declared a UNESCO global geopark in 2020.

The hydro-electric dams have created a massive reservoir that led to the forced displacement of approximately 17,000 people from both Romania and Yugoslavia, including the inhabitants of the island of Ada Kaleh and at least five other villages in Romania. The affected populations had to relocate to new areas, and their former settlements were submerged by the rising water levels. This also caused massive anxiety among the people moved which we were told still affects them 5 decades later.

Kazan gorge is found at its narrowest point. The currents where the gorge narrows, such as in the Sip Channel were so strong that until 1973, ships had to be dragged upstream along the canal by locomotive power guided by locals. The Great Kazan (kazan meaning “cauldron” or “reservoir”) is the most famous and the most narrow gorge of the whole route: the river here narrows to 150 m and reaches a depth of up to 53 m (174 ft). This quite impressive considering that this year where we embarked on our cruise the water depth was a mere 1.5 metres, too shallow for most vessels.

Nearby is the Tabula Traiana or Trajan’s Plaque which is a Roman memorial plaque found on the Serbian side of the Iron Gates. The plaque was erected by Roman Emperor Trajan to commemorate the completion of his military road along the Danube. It was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979 and is protected by the Republic of Serbia.

The plaque and the accompanying Roman road were constructed between AD 98 and 100. At its peak, the road was an engineering marvel that was partly carved into the cliff faces and supported by a wooden scaffold over the water. The monument was relocated in 1972 when the Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station was built, raising the water level of the Danube by about 35 meters.