Monday 22nd April’ tour was going to be exploring the Banat region of Romania. Typical houses in a village we passed by:
The Banat region is divided between three countries: Serbia, Romania, and Hungary. The total area is 27,104 km2 with a population of around 1 million people.
Our tour guide for this day was Ilie who was born and grew up in the Romanian part of Banat:
Ilie invited us to visit his home town Baile Herculan that is located in a picturesque valley with stunning views, and has always been known as a spa town. It has 5,000 inhabitants, and the research has shown that this town has been documented since 153 AD.
Legend has it that the God Hercules stopped in the valley to bathe and rest. Unearthed stone carvings show that visiting Roman aristocrats turned the town into a Roman leisure center. Six statues of Hercules from that time have been discovered. A bronze replica of one of them, molded in 1874, stands as a landmark in the town centre:
The spa town has been visited for its natural healing properties: hot springs with sulphur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals, as well as negatively ionised air.
In imperial times, the Austrian Empress Elizabeth often spent time in Baile Herculane, together with her husband the Emperor Franz Joseph I. For her the town was “the most beautiful spa resort on the continent”. Empress Elisabeth liked going to the top of a mountain (yellow arrow on the photo below) to enjoy the magnificent views of the valley. One day, when she was there, either a dog or another animal tried to attack her, but in the very last moment she was saved by a local boy. In gratitude, she took a ring off her finger and gave it to that boy. Today, that ring is in Baile Herculane, in a private collection. (This story is based on the research done by our guide Ilie)
A short break in a cafe where we got excellent Turkish coffee:
Casino of Baile Herculane, opened in 1913 (today closed):
One of the oldest trees in Romania – a giant sequoia with a girth of around 5 m.
The Royal bath of the Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elizabeth:
When we left Baile Herculane, we drove by a fire station. Ilie told us, that for about 20 years ago people who worked at this fire station were volunteers from the town:
We had a big program for the day, and needed to move on, though we would love to stay in Baile Herculane longer. A Romanian Orthodox monastery (Monastirea Mraconia) on the banks of Danube river:
It was an Easter Monday in the catholic tradition, and almost everything was closed (though the majority of Romanians are orthodox). We were looking for a place for lunch, and luckily there was one open. They had mouth-watering fish dishes…
After lunch, we went for a boat tour on Danube river. On the left side – Romania, and on the right side – Serbia:
We crossed the border with Serbia (it is absolutely legal to do by water, as long as you don’t put your feet on the Serbian soil), and stopped by a historic monument, called Tabula Traiana, which is a Roman monument at the Iron Gates of the Danube river. The Roman emperor Trajan laid a marker to commemorate the construction of the road to Dacia nearly 2000 years ago:
The Roman memorial plaque is 4 m wide and 1.75 m high, and it has a text on it that reads something like ” Emperor Caesar […] has made this road”.
After sailing a bit in the Serbian waters we got back to the Romanian side, and visited a huge cave, called Veterani Cave:
This cave was used for shelter of cattle or sheep and goats. Later it was fortified, and used as a fighting shelter between Turkish and Austrian armies, being able to accommodate 700 (!) soldiers. The cave’s mouth could be closed with a rock. The hole you can see on the photo below was used for a cannon:
Another interesting cave on the same side, and not far away, is Ponicova cave. The Ponicova cave is flooded, it is the largest in the Danube Canyon. It consists of several galleries, with a total length of 1,600 m:
The Decebal rock sculpture is the biggest in Europe. The carved face of Decebalus The Brave One – the last king of Dacia – has a height of 55 m and a width of 25 m (different sources give different numbers!). I’ve heard it is 6 m shorter than the Statue of Liberty. The sculpture dates from 2004 and it took 10 years to be finished, by 12 sculptors:
It was a very nice day out that combined natural wanders, thrilling history of the region, and good weather.
The last thing we saw on the Serbian side before turning back to Timisoara was The Golubac Fortress:
The founder of this fortress is unknown, but it is believed that the fortress was built in the 14th century. It has always been of a great significance, and its stones witnessed many historic revolutions and battles.
I planned to visit Serbia on this April tour, but by aircraft, going flying there. I had been in contact with the Serbian aviation authorities, and with the pilots from Serbia, and looked very much forward to visiting this beautiful country. Unfortunately, we lost one day in Konstanz in the beginning of the tour, due to bad weather, later we lost one more day because I couldn’t find a car for rent, and we had to adjust our plan. So crossing the border to Serbia on a boat trip came as a very nice surprise! I hope to visit it by plane another time.
Our second tour was coming to an end; we had two such great days with our knowledgeable guides! We drove 500 km every day, and saw so many interesting things, got so many wonderful experiences! We would definitely like to return.