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Egypt is the gift of the Nile, the Amazon is a river-sea, the Volga is woven with ballads, while the Danube – also known as Istros, Mataos, Danuvius – is the most populous river basin and is the river with the most attributes. The most beautiful section of the Danube includes Djerdap, or the Iron Gate – Europe's largest gorge, which is one of Serbia's natural blessings. In a single day a traveller through Djerdap can find himself in the ancient dwelling of the prehistoric civilization at Lepenski Vir, or he can stand before the famous Roman Emperor Trajan's Tablet that was placed on the Danube 2,000 years ago, and then he can finish his day in a village looking at the igloo-like sooty furnaces while enjoying a sailboat race near Golubac, or fish for catfish with seasoned fishermen with the 'bućka' (a wooden pestle with a button-like fl at end used to draw fish out from their depths by beating the water surface).
Djerdap – the Iron Gates of the Danube – begins at the medieval Golubac fortress on the Serbian side, and the Babakaj rock on the Romanian side. Downstream, parallel with the gorge and covering a distance of some 100 kilometres and covering an area of 65,000 hectares along the Danube, spreads the Djerdap National Park. Rich in animal and plant life, with almost uncanny natural beauty and rife with landmarks and historical monuments, from Paleolithic times to the era ancient Rome, this park is the cradle of Danubian and European civilisation and is therefore a piece of heritage of world proportions. Prior to entering the Iron Gates, the Danube is at its widest, except for its stretch at the Black Sea Delta. With its six kilometres in width, the river appears like a sea. Chroniclers say the Golubac fortress was built in the 14th century. Below the Golubac walls is a memorial fountain to Polish hero Zaviša Crni (Zawisza Czarny – Zaviša the Black), who was killed in battle against the Turks at Golubac in 1428. The fountain was erected by the young scouts of Serbia and Poland. Across from Golubac, on the Romanian side of the river, the pointed Babakaj rock rises mightily from the river, a place made immortal by painter Djordje Krstić.
There are three gorges in Djerdap; Golubačka, Gospodjin Vir and Sipska, as well as two canyons: Veliki and Mali Kazan, and three valleys: Ljupkovska, Donjomilanovačka and Oršavska. At virtually every mile through Djerdap one comes across some sort of monument. Downstream from Golubac, in Ljupkovska valley, are the Brnjica archaeological finds with Roman partition walls, the Čezava medieval necropolis, the Zidanac late classical site, the Saldum Roman fort, the Kožica pre-historic settlement... In Gospodjin Vir, one comes across the remains of the Lepenski Vir pre-historic settlement. Man first settled here some 8,000 years ago, and the level of his consciousness and culture may be inferred from the stone sculptures shaped like fish heads or deer, which most likely represent dieties of that culture. Today, the Lepenski Vir Museum pays tribute to this ancient civilisation. Across from Lepenski Vir, on the Romanian side, is Treskavac ('Slammer"), a trapezoid-shaped rock that received its name from the frequency with which it is struck by lightning. The ancient people of Lepenski Vir built their house roofs taking this rock as their model.... From the point where the Boljetinska Reka River flows into the Danube, to the river bend called Hladna Voda, there rises a large rock called Greben. It is made of layers of rock, not unlike the pages of a book. The conical points of Greben resemble the temples and pagodas in a Cambodian jungle.
In the Donjomilanovačka valley is Donji Milanovac, formerly Poreč. A quaint town with a Mediterranean-like climate, it is best known for Starina Novak, an epic hero, and Miša Anastasijević, a famous wealthy captain on the Danube who was also a great philanthropist. Leaving behind the Donjomilanovačka valley, the Danube enters the 19-kilometre-long Kazan (Veliki and Mali). This is where the river narrows to a tight 150 metres in width. Before the Djerdap hydro-electrical power plant was built, sturgeon arriving from the Black Sea would spawn in the deep whirlpools of the Kazan. Also in the Kazan are two large rocks called Veliki and Mali Štrbac, whose 800-metre cliff s drop vertically into the river. The rocky cliff s change colour, depending on the time of day and the amount of sunlight, much like the Rouen Cathedral in the paintings of Claude Monet. A rock called Ploče, rising above the Kazan, offers the most beautiful view of Djerdap. At the exit of Mali Kazan is Hajdučka Vodenica, while below the Golo Brdo is the renowned Trajan's Tablet. It was chiseled by the troops of Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, better known as Trajan (53-117), to glorify the completion of a Danubian Roman military road (via militaris) that cut through Upper Moesia in 104. Beneath the arched stone of the tympanum was inscribed in Latin: TABULA TRAIANA. Underneath it is a partially destroyed text that reads: IMP CAESAR DIVI NERVAE F NERVA TRAIANVS AVG GERM PONTIF MAXIMVS TRIB POT IIII PATER PATRIAE COS III MONTIBVS EXCISI. ANCO..BVS SVBLATIS VIA. FECIT... or "Emperor Caesar, son of divine Nerva, Nerva Trajan Avgustus, Germanic, four times Consul, having conquered Danubian rocks, built this road ..."
The via militaris is no more. It was submerged during construction of the Djerdap hydro-electrical power plant in the 1960s, when the water level of the Danube rose significantly. Trajan's Tablet was removed and placed some 20 metres higher. That was a feat comparable, if not even more challenging, to the dislocation of ancient Egyptian temples with their colossal statues of Ramses II at Abou Simbel, during construction of the large dam on the Nile at Assouan in the 1950s. The temples and the giant figures were first cut into 15-20-tonne blocks, and were then transported to the new sites. Trajan's Tablet was cut out from the rock in a single 300-tonne block, was removed and then re-attached. The entire undertaking was carried out under the direction of renowned Belgrade architect Prof. Milorad Dimitrijević...
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Upon leaving Mali Kazan, the Danube broadens into the Oršava valley, then moves into the Sipska gorge. As the power plant was being built in the Oršava valley, the river waters overflowed Adakale, the historic river island where the infamous Ottoman warlords Aganlija, Kučuk Alija, Mula Jusuf and Mehmed Fočić Aga were beheaded in 1804. The town Tekija is located in the Oršava valley and is the location of a traditional fishing competition each summer in which the 'bućka' technique is used. The competitors use worms, leeches, shells and cricket moles as bait. They throw their fishhooks into the water, then beat the water surface with the 'bućka' to produce a particular type of sound that catfish apparently find enticing. The sheath fish is a curious creature; it moves toward the source of the 'bućka' sound, swallows the bait and …. Last summer the largest catfish caught with the aid of the 'bućka' during the Tekija fishing competition weighed nearly 30 kilograms! |
