Golubac & the Iron Gates: the back story

About Golubac & the Iron Gates: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Belgrade Editorial Team

Two hours east of Belgrade, the Danube squeezes between the Carpathian and Balkan mountains through the Iron Gates, one of the great river gorges of Europe. People have lived, fought and travelled here for thousands of years, from the first farmers of Lepenski Vir to the Roman legions and the medieval lords of Golubac.

The gate of the Danube

The Iron Gates, Đerdap in Serbian, is the long gorge where the Danube cuts through the mountains between Serbia and Romania. For about a hundred kilometres the river winds between cliffs and wooded slopes, and at its narrowest point, the Kazan, it squeezes to just a few hundred metres wide. For most of history, this was one of the most dangerous stretches of water in Europe, full of rocks, whirlpools and rapids.

Lepenski Vir: the first villages

On a bend of the river, archaeologists in the 1960s uncovered Lepenski Vir, a settlement of hunters, fishermen and early farmers that was lived in for thousands of years, from around 9,500 years ago. Its people built houses with trapezoid floors and carved round river boulders into extraordinary sculptures with fish-like human faces, among the oldest monumental art in Europe. When the dam raised the river, the site was moved to higher ground, and today it is protected under a glass roof beside a modern museum.

People have lived, fought and travelled through the Iron Gates for thousands of years.

Rome on the Danube

The Romans made the Danube the frontier of their empire, and to move their armies along it they cut a road into the cliffs of the gorge. In AD 100 the emperor Trajan marked its completion with a stone plaque, the Tabula Traiana, carved into the rock above the river. It was lifted higher up the cliff before the dam was built, and today it is best seen from a boat. Not far upstream, near Kostolac, lie the ruins of Viminacium, once a great Roman city and legionary fortress.

Golubac Fortress

Where the river enters the gorge, Golubac Fortress climbs a cliff above the water, its nine towers linked by walls that once controlled all traffic on the Danube. First mentioned in the 14th century, it changed hands many times between Serbs, Hungarians and Ottomans. After years of restoration, it reopened to visitors in 2019, and climbing its towers for the view along the river is one of the highlights of a trip east of Belgrade.

The dam and the national park

In 1972 a great hydroelectric dam was completed at the downstream end of the gorge, a joint project of Yugoslavia and Romania. It tamed the dangerous rapids and raised the water level, creating a long, calm lake that flooded old villages and parts of the riverbank. The Serbian side of the gorge became Đerdap National Park in 1974, protecting its forests, wildlife and history, and today the area is also a UNESCO Global Geopark.

Our advice: Golubac is about two hours’ drive from Belgrade; leave early, visit the fortress first, then continue along the river road to Lepenski Vir and, if time allows, take a boat trip through the Kazan. Many agencies run full-day tours from Belgrade, and in summer you can also see the gorge on a Danube cruise.

Through the years

Dates from the archaeological, fortress and national park histories.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Golubac & the Iron Gates: the back story before you go.