“Serbia 🇷🇸 ~Golubac Fortress”
I kept staring at this Fortress from all the angles. I still could not believe what I was seeing was real.
When all was said and done, looking at the Fortress/Fairytale Castle was the best part of the whole experience; much more awe-inspiring than being on the inside. We did not stay very long, because we did not understand when purchasing our tickets, it was on a color-coded route system, where we would be allowed in, inside the fortress. Apparently we bought the “green” route, which was only lower areas in the Fortress Castle. This was disappointing. We could have handled the climb, as hot as it was, but the higher climbs required shoes and shorts; No flip-flops or dresses. So, even if we would have tried to buy the high route tickets, we would have been denied. I had gone online to check about the time the Fortress opened for visitors, and nothing was mentioned about certain clothing or footwear. Daryl has tennis shoes, but it was half a mile walk back to the car to get them, plus spending more money for tickets and all. (I only have flip flops)
Like an eternal vigilant guard, by whom no one can slip into the Djerdap Gorge, which means “The Iron Gates of the Danube.” The famous Golubac Fortress has been defying centuries.
Its founder remains unknown and one can guess it originated around the 13th or 14th century. Golubac is first mentioned in historical document in 1335, when it used to be a fortress with a Hungarian military garrison. The town is believed to have been founded much before that, but today it is not possible to determine when that was, nor who the founders were.
Golubac has always been of great significance so everyone wanted it, and numerous conquerors walked in it and considered it their own. Throughout the history, Golubac was alternately ruled by Hungarians, Serbs, Austrians and Turks. For many centuries, it only had one master, and that is the Danube. If only this river could speak, we would would know all the secrets within the walls. We would like the Danube to tell us who built this perfect fortress on a cliff, near the road, and also which of the legends is true, about how it got its name.
One thing is certain, all stories about this fortress are sad, and the saddest one takes us back to the time when this part of Serbia was under the Ottoman rule.
After the Battle of Kosovo, in 1389, it fell in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and then Golubac was the matter of dispute between two great empires; the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.
Golubac fortress has ten towers. The first and the true builder of this fortress gave it nine towers set in front, back and lower town, but Turks added another tower and strengthened the Fortress with canon openings. All towers are built in a shape of a square, except the donjon tower (the strongest tower of the fortress, and the last stand of defense) that has a polygonal base, and the cylindrical top, thus the name “Šešir kula” (Hat Tower).
Not far from the Fortress, a great settlement was created; also called Golubac and there was an old road leading to it. However, after the World War I, a new road was constructed passing through the very walls of the fortress, and nowadays a major roadway to Romania leads through the Fortress.
A girl named Golubana was the most beautiful in the area. A word was spread about her beauty, and the story came to a cruel Turkish Pasha who fell in love with her. She refused his love. To get his vengeance, the Pasha tied the poor girl to a rock sticking out from the water in the middle of the river, opposite the mighty fortress, where she died in pain watching the city that was later named after her.
The second legend tells the story about the city that was named after the Byzantine Princess Jelena (Irene Kantakouzene), the wife of despot’ Djuradj Branković. She tried to drive away her loneliness and sorrow by keeping pigeons that would come and sit on her hands, and she would tell them the story about her sadness and how much she longed for Byzantium, since she wasn’t popular among the Serbian people.
So, the green route was a very small area, and we were done, before we wanted to be, but it was what it was. We enjoyed getting to be there and see this place that looked like it inspired more than a few fairytales. It is very unusual to be in medieval-era Forts, where climbing to the high lookouts are even allowed. Every one we’ve been too have been blocked off by gates. Here, steel staircases have been installed and it is allowed to climb. It would have been great, but we said heck with it and got out of there to go get some lunch. We did not have a proper dinner the night before and no breakfast for the big guy this morning. (the stay we finally found for the night was great, but remote with no food)
This morning, we did wake up to a bright and sunny day, and we are no longer dodging storms. This is a nice change. After our Fortress visit and a meal, we headed for our next destination which required hours of driving. A couple hours in, and both of us kinda “hit the wall.” All I could think of was taking a nap. Daryl felt the same, so we did not feel like good candidates to be driving, though it was only 3PM. We’ve been on the steady go, since leaving Greece, with mostly one night stops; meaning no chance to just unwind or relax. Since we are on a busier roadway, we saw motels, here and there. We grabbed one, got settled, and got our naps. We feel much more human, once again.
Tomorrow is a new day, and we will decide between two sites, closest to us, and which one we want to see first, after I do more research. We have much more to see in Serbia. We also figured out fuel is very expensive in Serbia, more so than any other place we’ve been since Greece. We have a VW diesel, with good mileage, so this helps the pocketbook. We fill up at a half tank, when we can. We are driving a car, not a truck, and it costs about $45. As we move from the South and the Eastern regions, into the north, we are prepared for higher hotel costs, too.
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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More
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