The Iron Gates Natural Park ( ro, Parcul Natural Porțile de Fier ) is a natural park located in southwestern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It includes the Romanian part of the Iron Gate of the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, and stretches along the left bank of the river in the counties of Caraș-Severin and Mehedinți. Across the river is the

Đerdap national park The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a Canyon, gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The Iron Gates Natural Park is the second largest natural park in Romania. It stretches from

Socol Socol ( ro, Socol, sr, Сокол/Sokol, or Соколовац/Sokolovac, hu, Nérasolymos) is a commune in Caraș-Severin County, Romania (in the '' Clisura Dunării'' area of Banat). In 2011, the population of the commune numbered 1,873 peopl ...

in the west, to

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

in the east; to the north are the

Banat Mountains The Banat Mountains ( ro, Munții Banatului; hu, Bánsági-hegyvidék) are a number of mountain ranges in Romania, considered part of the Western Romanian Carpathians (''Carpații Occidentali Românești'') mountain range. The Banat Mountains ...

and the

Mehedinți Mountains The Mehedinți Mountains ( ro, Munții Mehedinți) are a mountain range in southwestern Romania, part of the Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group. The range represents the highest relief form in Mehedinți County Mehedinți County () is a county ( r ...

. The park contains 18 protected areas, the largest one being the wet zone Ostrov–

Moldova Veche Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistria ...

. The Iron Gates Natural Park is home to 205 species of birds and 34 species of mammals. It also home to several plants which are protected by law including; ''

Tulipa hungarica ''Tulipa hungarica'', the Danube tulip, Banat tulip or Rhodope tulip, is a species of flowering plant in the family Liliaceae. It is also in the subgenus ''Tulipa''. It is found on the rocky mountainsides of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovenia ...

'', Banat's corn (''Cerastium banaticum''), Cosaci (''Astragalus rochelianus''), Cazane bells (''Campanula crassipes''), Wild carnation ('' Dianthus kitaibelli'') and Rock iris (''

Iris reichenbachii ''Iris reichenbachii'' is a perennial bearded iris species native to Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, and into northeast Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe ...

'').

References

Geography of Caraș-Severin County Protected areas of Romania Geography of Mehedinți County Tourist attractions in Caraș-Severin County Tourist attractions in Mehedinți County Ramsar sites in Romania {{Europe-protected-area-stub