SERBIA | The Iron Gates

Updated: Sep 30, 2019

Offering a range of interesting activities and tours around Serbia, I booked the Iron Gates cruise through Serbian Adventures on a sunny Saturday. You may be wondering, why the fascination with the Danube River and what these Iron Gates are, so allow me to briefly explain.

Located in Serbia’s largest National Park, Djerdap (pronounced: Jerdap), the Iron Gates are Europe’s largest and longest gorge. The river forms a border between Serbia and Romania, while the cruise highlights the majestic nature and allows visitors to witness historical landmarks, seen only from the gorge.

Our journey started bright and early at 8 a.m. with a pick up from New Belgrade. With the bus at max capacity, our tour guide announced the itinerary for the day and warned us that we would be arriving back to Belgrade very late. After a 2 hour drive, we arrived to Srebrno Jezero (Silver Lake), which is located next to the town, Veliko Gradiste. Although it is not technically a lake, rather an “arm” of the Danube River, the resort is popular for Serbians, thanks to its clear and unpolluted water. We enjoyed a short and refreshing break, indulging in a palachinka (Serbian crepe) and ice cream before continuing our journey.

The first sight of the Danube caught my eye as we arrived to the town of Golubac, the gatekeeper of Djerdap National Park. The town has immense historical significance in this region as it borders Romania from across the river. The town’s historic fortress was built in the 14th century and has been the object of countless battles between the Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians, Serbs, Bulgarians and Turks due to its strategic position at the entrance of the gorge, where the water is narrow and controls river traffic. Having experienced heavy damage over the years, the fortress is currently undergoing a renovation project and will be fully restored next year. From Golubac, we drove almost an hour along the majestic river, admiring not only its strong current, but also the change of landscape. From green hills, to steep rocky mountains, the scenery was simply breathtaking.

The most characteristic feature about this landmark, is that from the Serbian side, it can only be seen from the river. The impressive plaque measures 8.2m height and 3.85m length and the inscription in Latin highlights the Emperor’s work through rock excavations and wooden beams. As a part of the Serbian / Romanian partnership, two hydroelectric dams were constructed, which increased the water level by 35 metres, causing the government of Serbia to raise the tablet to prevent it from being flooded. The second hidden landmark is located on the Romanian side called Mraconia Monastery, a church built in the 1500’s. As most of the region, the church also underwent significant damage during the battles, however was fully restored in the 1960’s.