Cities of Mehedinti
ORSOVA
The Ivory Coast of the Danube
Orsova is the youngest and the most atypical town of Romania.
It was born, one could say, out of the foam of the waves, at the same time with the "Fort of light" from the Iron Gates. It was both a sacrilege and a challenge, since the old town had personality and an interrupted history dated back to the Roman times. Dierna, as it used to be called, was a municipium in the Roman times. In the medieval period, it was a fort by the Danube, having an important military role, receiving Austro-Hungarian influences later, establishing liaisons between Banat and Oltenia. Now it was doomed to be swallowed by the waters of the Iron Gates reservoir. The new settlement had to be worth the sacrifice.
The inhabitants of Orsova wanted to live near the river, consequently the new town was carved and built on an arid hillside, with elegant villas which can be admired from across the gulf, at the railway station, a breathtaking image when the lights are reflected by the waters of the Danube late at night.
Orsova is located to the West of Drobeta Turnu Severin stretching from the North to the South of the gulf, facing the sun. One can visit here the Catholic Cathedral, with a modern architecture and interior paintings, with a program of organ concerts and services in three languages (Romanian, German and Czech). A tourist complex, "Dierna" and the Hall of Culture are in the center of the town as well as the Central Park which ends with an isthmus built in the gulf, where tourists can enjoy a lovely meal at Pescarusul (The Seagull) Restaurant. Southwest of Orsova, upper on the hill, the beautiful Saint Ana Monastery can be visited, a monastery built by the renowned journalist and writer Pamfil Seicaru.
As one can see from the terrace of the Orsova railway station, the monastery looks like a white nest on the peak of the forested hill.
From up there one can see the whole panorama of the immense gulf and its banks: here, the Danube opens itself beautifully, from the so-called region "Cazane" and the Cerna Valley downwards, to where it should have been seen the Island of Ada-Kaleh, an exotic and picturesque place which now lies under the Danube. Across the Danube, on the Serbian bank, the eye takes you to the mountains covered in forests resembling green pyramids against a blue background-the image reflected in the water is really like a painting without easel.
The gulf offers harbor for cruises and for certain nautical competitions.
Worth mentioning, Orsova has an international base for nautical sports, with boats, waterslides, water-ski, and two cruises.