REFLEKTOR / SPOTLIGHT
ter of the river along the entirety of its al- most 3,000-kilometre-long course than there is right here at the entrance to this gorge, where the hitherto gentle river be- gins forcing its way through the rock of the Carpathians, narrowing abruptly to barely a few hundred metres. No sur- prise, then, that it was right here that one of the most impressive medieval fortifica- tions along the entire Danube was built: Golubac Fortress. The view of the renovated fortress is a veritable fairytale scene, and that im- pression became even stronger when we were met in front of it by the knights of the Order of the Dragon, dressed in me- dieval knightly garb. What they would re- count to us about the fortress was part- ly praise for incredible human courage – the battles that were fought here and the fortified town that remained uncon- quered – and partly the story of legends linked with this place. It is thanks to Des- pot Stefan Lazarević, the prince most closely associated with this fortress, and the fact that he was one of the most im- portant representatives of the knights of the Order of the Dragon, that it is said that dragons have flown over the Danube here since time immemorial. Even the carp here are said to turn into fire-breath- ers at night, which is why it comes as no surprise that the producers of the series Game of Thrones visited Golubac. Following the tour of the fortress and the tales of its heroes and the fact that it was never conquered despite being assault-
ed 120 times (power over it always shift- ed through “diplomatic” means), you can board a boat and pass through the Iron Gates, and straight into a new enchant- ment that requires no human beautifica- tion. Here the green, calm waters of the Danube flow beneath imposing and dra- matically carved mountain massifs, with the odd house peaking over the lush veg- etation of the flanks. At one point, your boat’s captain will show you the deep- est spot along the entire course of the Danube, where the depth gauges man- age to record a distance of around 96 metres to the riverbed, though it is be- lieved that it is at least 20 metres deep- er in this section. The captain says that all sorts of things have been spotted emerg- ing from those depths, but no one dare talk about it... The Iron Gates Gorge also marks one of the points of origin of modern civilisa- tion, thanks to the Lepinski Vir archae- ological site that’s located approximately 36 kilometres downstream from Gol- ubac. The importance of this site is im-
measurable, given that the culture of this locality endured from around 8000 to 4500 BC and represents one of man- kind’s earliest group settlements and the foundations of modern civilisation... Our voyage next leads us to Donji Mi- lanovac, representing a tourist centre of the Đerdap area, named after Prince Mi- loš’s son Milan. The Danube turns north here, flowing beside the sheer cliff faces of Miroč Mountain before narrowing to form the Small and Great kazans [mean- ing kettles]. Here you can see the remains of a former Roman road that was carved out of the rock. It was here that Roman Emperor Trajan achieved what would still be a genuine feat of construction for to- day’s standards, completing the road and erecting a bridge over the Danube that stood as the longest bridge for a thou- sand years after its construction. It is no longer standing, but there is the famous Tabula Traiana, Trajan’s Plaque, which is inscribed with Latin text testifying to the fact that Emperor Trajan ordered the building of this road to Dacia.
Beneath Trajan’s Plaque are the deep and still waters of Đerdap Lake, which leads us quickly on to the hydroelectric power plant. The remains of Diana Fortress, one of the best-preserved Roman military fortifications, were discovered two kilo- metres downstream from the lake, along- side the Danube and the road to Kladovo. The final Danube destination in Serbia is Kladovo, from where you make your leave of this region, but not without tak- ing your magical memories of the beauti- ful Danube...
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