Venue

Bucharest

Frescoes Hall, “Ion Mincu” University of Urban Planning and Architecture, Bucharest

The Danube Gorge

• Virgil Ogasanu Hall, Theodor Costescu Cultural Palace, Drobeta Turnu-Severin
• Simian Island
• Djerdap National Park
• Iron Gates Natural Park

Some historical aspects of the Danube Gorge BorderScape

Beyond the legendary connotations that refer to a history documented by writers of Antiquity, sometimes controversial, the landscape of the Danube is the cradle of a civilization over 35,000 years old. Formed in the geological eras when the Danube made its way to the sea through the mountains, the island of Ada-Kaleh presented optimal natural conditions for habitation; the Đerdap Gorge, due to the benefits of massive shrublands, acted as a huge natural thermo-accumulator furnace while the presence of the watercourse and the mild climate favored the emergence of the Mesolithic culture of the Lepen source (10. 000 – 6,000 BC), subsequently constituted as a Gibraltar of the Orient, which since year 200 has not had periods of peace for centuries, due to migrations and, later, due to disputes between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires.

The relative peace and prosperity of the inter-war period were abruptly broken by the communist period brought about by the critical context with the establishment of the hydroelectric power station in 1970, but also by the strict prohibition of border traffic, the illegal crossing of the Danube by swimming being the only possibility of access to the free world, costing the lives of many who aspired to freedom.

Walkscapes and waterscapes during the event days…

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