Serbia and Montenegro

The Danube flows into Serbia near Bezdan. The first Serbien city the great river reaches is Novi Sad, capital of the Vojvodina. The town is dominated by the mighty fortress of Petrovaradin, one of the largest fortifications in Europe. Sadly, Novi Sad last came to public attention during the war in Kosovo, when the bridges spanning the Danube in and around the city were bombed. Reconstruction work is scheduled to be completed soon, and since May 2002 cruise liners are again able to sail past the city and onwards to the Danube delta.

Seventy kilometers (about forty-three miles) downstream from Novi Sad lies Belgrade, capital of Serbia. Here imposing Kalemegdan fortress guards the confluence of Sava and Danube. Under the Romans the city was called Alba Graeca, while the Celts knew it as Singidunum. The Serbian name 'Beograd' means 'white city'. The city's strategic location made it the site of many a battle, which is why it can boast only a few buildings more than a century old. The cathedral of St. Michael, or Saborna Crkva, was built in 1837.

Belgrade is known for its many museums, in particular the National Museum and Ethnographic Museum. The artists' quarter Skadarlija is also well worth a visit. Notable too are the excavations in Carasija near Ripanj. It was here that a statuette of a seated woman was found. One of the oldest pieces of sculpture in the world, the statuette is now on display at the National Museum.

Just a few decades ago the remains of an 8,000-year old settlement was discovered in Lepenski Vir. The site is probably the oldest along the course of the Danube. The unique stone figures unearthed at Lepenski Vir, which resemble a fish with a human head and measure up to half a meter, can be seen in the National Museum.

Further downstream from Belgrade sturdy castles and fortresses bear witness to the country's eventful past: Smederevo was Serbia's capital in the fifteenth century, the fortress of Golubac dates from the early fourteenth-century. The Iron Gate is the most spectacular gorge along the Danube's course: some 150 kilometers (ninety-three miles) in length. The narrow valley used to be a difficult and hazardous segment of the river for navigation. In 103 AD the Roman emperor Trajan had a road and stone bridge built at Kladovo, as the Tabula Trajana recalls. The dam and hydroelectric station, which were jointly constructed at the Iron Gate by Yugoslavia and Romania and completed in 1972, created a lake 150 kilometers long and raised the river's level by thirty-five meters (115 feet). The project also made this segment of the river safe for navigation. Despite the changes to the area's scenery, the Iron Gate remains today one of the most majestic stretches of the Danube along its long journey from the Black Forest to the Black Sea.