The Danube and the Iron Gates, from Belgrade to Negotin

Fortresses at the water’s edge, gorges more than a hundred kilometres long and Roman ruins all along the river. Five days one way across eastern Serbia, from Belgrade to the vineyards of Negotin.

Serbia

The Đerdap gorge from above: the Danube between its wooded slopes.

The Serbian Danube, from Belgrade to the gorges

The journey begins in Belgrade, on the ramparts of Kalemegdan, where the Sava meets the Danube. Then you follow the river east. It is wide and slow, almost a lake in places. You pass the fortress of Smederevo and its 25 towers, then the Roman ruins of Viminacium. Near Veliko Gradište, Srebrno jezero, a former arm of the Danube closed off by dykes in 1971, is used as a beach in summer.

At Golubac, a 14th-century fortress with pointed roofs closes the entrance to the gorges. From here you follow road 34, which runs along the Serbian bank for about a hundred kilometres to Tekija, from tunnel to tunnel, with Romania on the other side. At the Great Kazan, the river narrows to 150 metres between two cliffs.

The best viewpoint is on the water: from Donji Milanovac, boat trips cross the Kazan at the foot of the rock walls. To see the Kazan from above, you have to walk: 3.5 km one way to the Ploče viewpoint, 7 km to the Mali Štrbac viewpoint, at 626 metres. The journey ends further south, in the vineyards of the Negotin Krajina.

The Tabula Traiana, carved into the cliff just above the river.

The Romans on the Danube

In ancient times, the Danube marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. Around the year 100, Trajan was preparing the conquest of Dacia, today’s Romania. He had a road cut into the cliff of the gorges, partly held up by wooden beams. A plaque carved into the rock, the Tabula Traiana, records the end of the work. It is about 4 metres wide. You can only see it properly from a boat, at the Small Kazan.

Upstream of the gorges, Viminacium was the capital of the province of Upper Moesia and the camp of the Seventh Legion Claudia. Part of the seating of its amphitheatre has been rebuilt. Near Kladovo, the castrum of Diana guarded the entrance to a canal dug in 101 to get round the rapids.

Downstream, at Kostol, Apollodorus of Damascus built a bridge over the Danube for Trajan, finished in 105. The Archaeological Museum of Đerdap, in Kladovo, keeps the objects found at these sites.

The river rose by about 35 metres near the dam.

Lepenski Vir and the Iron Gates dam

The Đerdap I dam, built by Yugoslavia and Romania, opened in 1972. The river rose by about 35 metres near the dam. The old town of Donji Milanovac was flooded and rebuilt higher up. The island of Ada Kaleh, a former Turkish enclave with its mosque, vanished under the water, like the rapids that boatmen feared. The Tabula Traiana was cut out of the rock and raised by 22 metres.

The site of Lepenski Vir was moved too, in 1971, about 30 metres higher. Fishermen lived here more than eight thousand years ago, in houses with trapezoid floors. They carved river pebbles into faces that were half human, half fish. The site was excavated from 1965 by the archaeologist Dragoslav Srejović. The house floors are now protected under a glass roof.

The stone and brick ruins of the palace of Felix Romuliana, at Gamzigrad.

Gamzigrad – Felix Romuliana

Zaječar, Eastern Serbia · just over an hour from Negotin

The emperor Galerius had this fortified palace built from 298 and named it after his mother, Romula. Their two mausoleums stand on Magura, the nearby hill. The site has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 2007.

Practical notes

When to go: May–June and September–October. Between November and mid-April, boat trips are rare.
Getting there: Start from Belgrade and its airport. Back from Negotin to Belgrade: about three and a half hours.
Access: Main roads are tarmac. Road 34 is slow, with narrow, poorly lit tunnels. Tracks to the viewpoints not recommended for motorhomes.
Sleeping in a van: A large campsite at Srebrno jezero, a few campsites by the river after Golubac. Outside campsites, check the rules of Đerdap National Park.
Worth knowing: Serbia is outside the European Union and outside Schengen: border checks; check your insurance and your hire company’s permission. The A1 motorway is tolled, with the rate based on vehicle height.
Allow: Five days, one more for Gamzigrad and its mausoleums.

Golubac fortress and its towers on the Danube, at the entrance to the gorges.

What not to miss

1Golubac fortressIts towers clinging to the cliff, restored and reopened in 2019.
2KalemegdanBelgrade’s fortress, above the meeting of the Sava and the Danube.
3SmederevoThe fortress of Despot Đurađ Branković, in the last capital of medieval Serbia.
4The Kazan by boatThe Tabula Traiana and, opposite, the face of the Dacian king Decebalus, carved into the Romanian cliff between 1994 and 2004.
5Lepenski VirA prehistoric fishing village and its carved pebbles.
6The Rajac cellarsAbout 270 stone cellars, built for wine and not for living in.

The Danube and the Iron Gates in pictures

The trapezoid floors of the houses of Lepenski Vir, under their glass roof.

The east gate of the Roman castrum of Diana, between its two towers.

The Despot’s Tower and its footbridge, in Belgrade Fortress.

The trapezoid floors of the houses of Lepenski Vir, under their glass roof.

The Serbian Danube table

By the river, you eat fish: riblja čorba, a fish soup with paprika, then grilled catfish or carp. All over Serbia you also find ćevapi, small grilled meat sausages, with kajmak, a thick cream.

Around Negotin, the Krajina is wine country: prokupac, a Serbian red grape, and bagrina, an old local white grape. The meal often starts with a glass of rakija, the fruit brandy.