Today we will take a virtual trip to Cazanele
\nDunarii, (in English the Danube’s Cauldrons) which are a 9 km section of the
\nDanube Gorges in the Carpathians. In some places, the river is guarded by
\nvertical, stone walls, and the landscape is exceptional. Besides the beauty of
\nnature, the place is worth visiting also for the important monuments it is home
\nto, as well as excellent accommodation facilities, which can ensure all the
\nnecessary conditions, even in times of social distancing like the one we are
\ngoing through these days.<\/p>\n
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Stoica Marius Simion, the mayor of Orsova, in
\nMehedinti County, says that the starting point of a trip to Cazanele should
\ndefinitely be Orsova. The town is part of the Iron Gates Nature Park, which stretches
\nacross two counties, Mehedinti and Caras Severin, over an area of some 115
\nthousand hectares. It is actually the second protected park in Romania. <\/p>\n
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Here is Stoica Marius Simion with more:<\/p>\n
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The tourists that come to us are advised to
\nvisit the Roman-Catholic cathedral in Orsova, the only catholic church built
\nduring the communist regime, between 1971 and 1976. It is an important place
\nfor all believers in Orsova, be they German, Romanian, Czech or Hungarian. The mural
\npainting is quite special. The Road to the Cross, painted by Gabriel Popa,
\ntriggered a lot of controversy, because he used contemporary figures to illustrate
\nthe biblical scenes. In his painting, Gabriel Popa placed, next to Pontius Pilate,
\nLenin, who is instigating people against Jesus. Not far from them there stands
\nJohn Lenon, as a symbol the joy of Resurrection. The Romanian gymnast Nadia
\nComaneci, actors Florin Piersic and Ana Szeles are also among the figures in
\nthe painting. The cathedral stands at the very entrance to Orsova. In 2005, a
\nplaque was revealed, telling the story of Queen Mary’s crown, which was hidden
\nin Orsova between 1849 and 1853. A chapel of the crown was erected but it was
\ndestroyed when the main wall of the Iron Gates powerplant was built, in 1970.<\/p>\n
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Another tourist attraction is Monastery Saint
\nAnn, on Dealul Mosului (Elderly’s Hill). Here is mayor Marius Simion again:<\/p>\n
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It’s an elevated area, which dominates the
\ntown. The monastery was built by the interwar journalist Pamfil Seicaru, who
\nfought in the war, in the Orsova area, in the 18th infantry
\nregiment. He made a promise during the war, saying that if he was to survive it,
\nhe would build a monastery in the area. A 1.5 km stone road was built in 1935,
\nand it was named Heroes’ Road. It was guarded by seven shrines, made of oak
\ntree, also in memory of the heroes that had died in the area. After 1960, all
\nof them disappeared. The monastery was built between 1936 and 1939, when
\nSeicaru was the director of the ‘Curentul’ magazine and also a member of the Romanian
\nParliament. After 1945, along with the coming of the communists, the building
\nwas turned into a restaurant. It was only in 1990 that the monastery was taken
\nover by the Metropolitan Bishopric of Oltenia.<\/p>\n
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Stoica Marius Simion also told us about the
\noptions for those who love hiking:<\/p>\n
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There is
\na hill in the area, Ciucarul Mare, which is only 318 m high, but it’s rich in tourist
\nroutes, just like Ciucarul Mic. The panorama on top these hills is extremely
\nbeautiful, from both the Romanian side and from the Serbian one. Because Serbia
\nis right across the Danube. The landscape there is extremely beautiful, with
\nspectacular forms of relief. There are also caves, and I would recommend a
\nvisit to Ponicova, which is the longest cave in the gorges, 25km from Orsova. It
\nis 1600 m long and piercing through Ciucarul Mare. It also has an exit to the
\nDanube. So it’s accessible from both land and water. At the entrance to the
\ncave, the brook with the same name created some short, wild gorges, and also a
\n25 m natural bridge, at an altitude of 7 meters. The cave is inhabited by wild
\nanimals.<\/p>\n
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Not far from Ponicova Cave one can visit
\nanother spectacular formation, the Veterans’ Grotto, 27 km from Orsova, as Stoica Marius Simion explained:<\/p>\n
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They say it’s the first of this kind in
\nRomania to have been mapped. There are thousands of visitors that come here
\nvery year. It’s one of the main attractions in the gorges. Representatives of
\nthe Iron Gates nature park say it’s actually the most famous Romanian
\ndestination, after the Black Sea Coast. Not far from Dubova and Orsova there
\nstands the head of Dacian king Decebalus, carved in stone. It’s a 55 m high bas-relief,
\non the Romanian side of the Danube. It’s the biggest stone sculpture in Europe
\nand was funded by the richest man in the country at the time, businessman and
\nhistorian Iosif Constantin Dragan. The length of the eyes alone is 4.3 m, and
\nthe nose is 7 meters long. Not far, on the other side of the Danube one can see
\nthe famous Tabula Traiana, Trajan’s Plaque, which is 2000 years old. It was
\nsculpted in stone, by the Romans, around the year 101. (M.Ignatescu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today we will take a virtual trip to Cazanele Dunarii (Danube’s Cauldrons), which are a 9 km section of the Danube Gorges in the Carpathians<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43423],"tags":[44215,34717,44214,44216,44217],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-150060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travellers-guide","tag-cazanele-dunarii","tag-decebalus","tag-orsova","tag-ponicova","tag-tabula-traiana"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n