A  FORTRESS  AMONG  PIGEONS  

By its natural and and historical marks, the National Park Djerdap is unique in Europe. In 1974 it was put under the Government's protection. It cover the area of 63,680 hectares and extends for 100 kilometers along the Danube bank, from Golubac to Kladovo, on the territories of the communities Golubac, Majdanpek and Kladovo. The whole region provides excellent conditions for tourism, hunting and fishing, water sports and other types of recreation.
The dominating place at the entrance into the Djerdap Gorge is taken by the fortress Golubački Grad, constructed on an inaccessible rock, with high mountain tops. Strategically, it controls the whole traffic up and down the Danube. In the period of Roman conquers, the Danube was a natural defense wall, so that the fortress, through the history, was used by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians and the Serbs.
There are several legends of the town name, but they are all very similar. According to one of them, in the main tower, famous under the name the Hat Tower, the Byzantine Tzaress Jelena was imprisoned there. Due to her loneliness, she raised pigeons, by which the town got its name. The second legend is based upon wild pigeon flocks, which make their nests there, and the third one connects the fortress name to its look, it looks like pigeons on a rock.
The Pigeon Town Fortress, constructed by the stone taken from the nearby mine, consists of nine towers, up to 25 meters high, with wooden structures and staircases connecting them. The Hat Tower dominates the town, later on the Gun Tower was added, and in the middle, a square tower was constructed with a chapel, which shows that probably an Orthodox church was there. During the first archaeological researches, many ceramic, iron and wooden items were discovered, a lot of bronze and copper coins, as well as about fifteen golden ones. Impressive and in the tourist sense very attractive, the Pigeon Town is rather inaccessible and ready for investments and reconstructions.
In its base, in Golubac itself, national and international competitions in sailing have taken place already since fifteen years, under participation of more than 200 sailors. Permanent winds and the width of the Danube, which is 5,8 kilometers there, open the sailing season in May and close it in September.
The accommodation facilities are quite limited.

Information:
	Golubac Turist organization +381 12 78 145