"The Iron Gates" is the name of a defile drawn by the Danube river on the southern board of Romania, separating it from Serbia. It spreads on a 134 km distance on the course of the Danube, also including the hydroelectric dam situated near the city of Orsova (Romania).
The defile was first inaugurated by the Emperor Franz Joseph, during an official visit it Romania, on the 27th of september 1896.
The hydroelectric dam is a Romanian-Yugoslavian project, its construction lasted from 1964 to 1972 and is the largest hydropower plant realised on the course of the Danube.
The area is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Romania, as it provides both natural beauty and historic artifacts.
On the course of the defile you can find the Tabula Traiana, a memorial plate built by the Roman Emperor Traian to mark the entry of its army in ancient Dacia during the second Dacian-Roman war, respectively between 105 and 106 a.d.
On the other side of the defile you can see the giant sculpture of the Dacian ruler, Decebalus, the ruler that opposed the Romans during the Roman-Dacian wars.
The sculpture was realised by the Romanian sculpture Constantin Drăgan, it is 55 meters high and 25 meters wide, and its execution lasted ten years, from 1994 until 2004.
It represents the contribution of the Romanians' Daco-Tracian identity to the universal culture.
"Ponicova" cave is an other attraction of the defile. You can acces it both from land or from water. It is 820 meters deep and is consisted of three main galleries: The Gallery of the Stalactites, The Gallery of the Stalagmites and the Gallery of the Bats.
The beauty of the Danube's "Iron Gates" can be seen in the following pictures...
Cruising
Natural beauty
The entrance to the "Ponicova" cave
King Decebalus, watching over his people
Tabula Traiana
A closer glimpse of Tabula Traiana
The hydroelectric power plant
