2005 Danube River Cruise

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Day 20, November 10, 2005
The Iron Gates
Uniworld version: Morning finds you cruising through picturesque scenery. Some very impressive sights are coming up on the right bank of the mighty Danube: the medieval fortresses of Smederevo and Golubac, and the Trajan Table, marking the spot where the Roman Emperor crossed the Danube to conquer Dacia (Modern Romania). The scenery becomes truly spectacular as you cruise through the Iron Gates, a narrow Danube gorge between the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains. The gorge, one of the most dramatic sights in Europe forms a natural border between Serbia and Romania. As you continue your journey down the Danube, enjoy vistas of Romania to the north and Bulgaria to the South. Cruise overnight to Svistov.
More Iron Gates:
I was up on the deck in the early morning. Its cold, windy, but the clouds and scenery were spectacular. Later while we passed more scenic marvels and castles, I was inside getting warm, trying to shoot through the window. It was sunny, but still cold. Just before and during lunch, I was up on the deck again trying to get some good photos of the ship going through this huge lock with the hyro dam on the river. At one point there were armed guards along the port side where the hydro dam installations were situated.
There is a plaque under that huge carved head that reads DECEBALUS REX DRAGAN FECIT. I do not know who carved this huge monument.
The crew did their show for this leg of the cruise this nite. Doris sang “crazy” again. She does that very well. The other skits were a bit amusing, mostly silly. Of course, we still have our expert Giudo for entertainment in the lounge.
Excerps from information provided: The Iron Gates Dam, Resevoir and Navigation System – River Navigation the Portile de Fier (Iron Gates) dam with its flooding of the Danube as far up stream as Belgrade has had a massive effect on increasing traffic on the river in recent times. The problematic Iron Gates section of the Danube, with its narrow, hazardous gorge was always a difficult part of the river to navigate.
The substantial rise in water level following the construction of the dam between 1960 and 1971 made the navigation of the Iron Gates far easier. River traffic passes through a double lock system to descend the 33m (99 feet) to the Drobeta side of the dam. There are locks on the Serbian side of the River and on the Romanian side of the River.
Day 20, November 10, 2005
The Iron Gates sites, which comprise both caves and open-air sites are littered with the debris of centuries of human occupation, including animal remains, bone and stone artifacts, and pottery. The presence of numerous burials and house remains in several of the open-air sites implies that they were permanent or semi-permanent settlements. Some sites, such as Lepenski Vir, appear to have been inhabited continuously during the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic times. Major research continues in this area.

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