The Danube here is squeezed through a gorge between the Carpathians and the Balkans, and the result is one of the great river landscapes of Europe. The Iron Gates, called Porțile de Fier in Romanian and Đerdap in Serbian, run for about a hundred kilometres, with cliffs rising steeply on both sides and the water flowing wide and slow.
The history is old and dramatic. In AD 105 the Roman emperor Trajan ordered a bridge to be built across the Danube here, designed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, a wooden-decked structure on stone piers that was the longest bridge in the world for a thousand years. Its stone piers can still be seen at low water, and the ruins of the Roman fort at Drobeta are in the town. Nearby, on the Serbian side, a rock plaque, the Tabula Traiana, commemorates the building of the road along the gorge. On the Romanian side, a gigantic face of the Dacian king Decebalus, about forty metres high, is carved into the rock, finished in 2004, a modern monument to an ancient enemy.
In 1972, a huge hydroelectric dam, built jointly by Romania and Yugoslavia, closed the gorge and raised the water, drowning rapids, villages and the island of Ada Kaleh, a small Turkish community. The dam carries a road across the river, with a border crossing, so you can cross between the two countries on the wall itself, and passport checks are required.
Riding along the Danube on either side is a pleasure. The Romanian road, the DN57, hugs the cliffs with bends, tunnels and views of the water, and the surface is generally good, though rockfall and slow trucks are common. On the Serbian side, the road is also winding, with similar views. In summer, the heat is strong, and fog can lie over the river in the mornings. Expect border queues at the dam in high season.
Fuel is easy in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, with several stations and plenty of places to eat, and it is a good place to fill up before the gorge, since villages along the road are small. Try the fresh Danube fish, grilled or in a soup.
Go in the morning, when mist lies on the water and the cliffs emerge slowly into the light.