The Danube offers us an overwhelming spectacle along the length of its wild gorge, forming the south-western border of Romania between Bazias and Drobeta-Turnu Severin! However, the Cauldrons stretch is yet more breathtaking still: for 9 km, the Danube snakes between the mountain walls of Ciucaru Mic (310 m) and Ciucaru Mare(318), on the Romanian bank, and Mali Strbac (626m) and Veliki Strbac(768m) on the Serbian side. The width of the Greater and Lesser Cauldrons, which wind through the Dubiva Basin, does not exceed 150-350 meters. In the past, the waters were thought to "boil" and seethe here, as in a fisherman's cauldron. It was thus that the area came to be known as the Cauldrons.

The construction of the Iron Gates I hydroelectric dam at Gura Vaii between 1964 and 1971 raised the water level by 33 meters, solving the problem of Danube navigation, which had, until then, been complicated and fraught with danger, due to rocks, shelves, whirlpools and all kinds of natural obstacles.

There area around the Danube Cauldrons has been declared a nature reservation; here can be found growing oriental beech, Turkish nut-trees, chestnut, yew, lilac, Cauldron tulips, figs, and dates. The Egyptian eagle, horn viper, and tortoise are also to be found in this area.

On one of the banks of the Danube has been preserved the Tabula Traiana, carved into the rock by the Romans as they made their way into Dacia. At the point where the River Mraconia empties into the Danube there looms the imposing effigy of King Decebal, sculpted in 1998.

Romania's southern border holds a special charm, which is also created by the picturesque villages threaded along the Danube, and by the unmistakable milieu of the ethnic communities in these parts, where Romanians, Serbs, Czechs and Bulgarians have been able to find the path to uniquely tranquil cohabitation.

The Roman roads also passed through the ancient Dacian settlement of Drobeta, which became an important military center. Near the Danube can be found the ruins of the bridge built between 103 and 105 AD by the celebrated Apollodoros of Damascus.

On the Island of Simian near Drobeta-Turnu Severin are housed some of the 14 th century fortifications from the Island Ada Kaleh, which was covered by the waters of Danube after the construction of the Iron Gates Dam.

Here we are close to the Banat, a province that is especially privileged in its natural setting. The borders of this south-western region of Romania are formed by the Meridional Carpathians, the Danube and the Tisa and Mures rivers. In this zone, the climate is much milder than in the rest of the country, with palpable Mediterranean influences.

On the Cernea Valley there is a marvelous spa resort - Baile Herculane, first attested in 153 A.D. around the mineral springs of this area, the Romans built thermal baths, whose ruins are still visible today. The statue of Hercules - the patron of the resort - made from cannon iron, was donated to the town in 1871 by Duke Karl.

Those who with to enjoy the spell of the mountains need only head for the spa resort of Semenic, situated at an altitude of 1400 meters on the Semenic Plateau. Here can also be found modern ski slopes.