The Iron Gates of the Danube

I admit--I didn't have a clue what or where the Iron Gates were before this trip.  But here, where the Carpathian and Balkan mountains meet, the Danube did her finest work in carving out narrow gorges in the mountain valleys to carry her waters from the Germanic Black Forest to the Black Sea.   Until Yugoslavia and Romania cooperated in 1972 to build a dam/lock and hydro-electric plant on their common border, this was the most wild and treacherous section of the Danube.

In this 83-mile (134 km) span of the river, you find massive granite mountains and lovely peaceful valleys.

While the dam created safe passage for ships and clean energy for the people, it came at a price.  A number of historic towns and  beautiful islands were submerged (see prior post).  We eerily entered the Iron Gates, avoiding the branch tops of underwater trees from a submerged island near the remains of the Golubac castle.  This 14th century castle built on a prior Roman site and conquered by the Turks in 1428, whispers legends of giant mosquitoes (they've now moved down river) that came from a rotting dragon killed by a valiant knight.  The Turks added the story of a beautiful harem girl, Zuleika, who was tied to the great rock in the middle of the Danube and either repented of her sins, died for her lover, or was rescued, became a Christian, and lived happily ever after, depending on whose story you want to believe.

As we entered the narrow gap (150m; 500ft) with towering mountain cliffs (600m; 2000 ft) that echo the slightest sound, I felt like we were entering a hidden, fabled kingdom---something out of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  I could easily imagine hobbits and elves and auks appearing at any moment as we sailed between steep rocky mountains, red-roofed villages, richly-forested hills, and medieval tower ruins.  We had a perfect day and a half in the Gates--blue skies, billowy white clouds, and the ever-present rush of the wind (take a hat for the sun, but hold onto it).

Though treacherous for millennium, this section of the river has ancient roots. At nearby Lepenski Vir, archaeologists have found ruins of a 59-house town that was occupied around 6,000 BC when the earliest civilizations were developing in Mesopotamia.  It challenges modern theories that civilization began and spread only from the Middle East.  Instead, Neolithic civilization may have spread independently from this area of the Danube through Europe.

The Romans, of course, were here.  The Dacians, on  the eastern (Romanian) side of the river, were considered a threat to the Roman Empire and had land and gold mines that even Caesar coveted.  The Emperor Domitian  led the army in 87 AD against Decebalus, King of the Dacians, with limited success.  But it was Trajan, as a new emperor, that would bring glory and gold to Rome.  His soldiers created a road along the cliffs and built a bridge, the biggest of the time and for centuries to come, across the troublesome Danube to defeat Decebalus in 101 AD and finally to destroy the Dacian kingdom in 105.

They say they celebrated the victory for 123 days throughout the Roman Empire, and it was immortalized on Trajan's Column that still stands in Rome.  Trajan himself was pretty proud of what he did and left the following tabula on the cliff visible from the Danube:  "The Emperor Caesar son of the divine Nerva--Nerva Trajan Augustus Germanicus--High Priest and for the fourth time Tribune--Father of the Country and for the fourth time Consul--overcame the hazards of the mountain and river--and opened this road."  The actual site is under water, but the rock was moved up the mountain before the dam was opened.  A little ways up river from there, someone of recent times carved the face of Decebalus in the mountain.  It's about time someone honored the "barbarians."

Even the Habsburgs had a part in this.  When the crown of St. Stephen was discovered along the river (after having been  stolen and hidden by unhappy Hungarians), Franz Joseph had a church erected on the spot.  (see Habsburgs)

While the Romans brought political stability, the Danube continued to be a challenge to navigate.  Only small barges controlled by trained pilots could get through and only at certain water levels and seasons.  A side canal was tried; cables to pull the boats from the shore were used.  Finally, the Djerdap Power Station with its huge dam and double locks was opened in 1972 at the lower end of the Iron Gates, just before the Danube leaves Serbia and becomes the border between Bulgaria and Romania.

The Iron Gates were a magnificent segment of my Danube voyage.  It inspired a slightly longer-than-usual slideshow that  is worth the download time.  For the music, I chose Wagner--strong, mythical, with a touch of the wild and sublime.  Enjoy.

Click link below for slideshow:
Iron Gates of the Danube

Music:  Richard Wagner, Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla (Das Rheingolt), Wagner Without Words


More Information:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Gate_(Danube)
http://www.danube-river.com/