Defileul Dunării, also locally known as Clisura Dunării ( / ) is a geographical region in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is located in southern

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

, along the northern bank of the river

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Clisura Dunării is situated between river Nera in the west, and Gura Văii or Cazanele Dunării in the east. The area includes the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Orșova Orșova (; ; ; ) is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the Banat historical region situated just above the Iron Gates where the Cerna River meets the Danube. History ...

and the town of Moldova Nouă, as well as several

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(

Socol Socol (, , ) is a Commune in Romania, commune in Caraș-Severin County, Romania (in the ''Clisura Dunării'' area of Banat). It is composed of five villages: Baziaș (Базјаш, ''Báziás''), Câmpia (Луговет, ''Néramező''), Pârneaur ...

, Pojejena, Coronini, Gârnic, Sichevița, Berzasca,

Svinița Svinița (, , ) is a commune in Mehedinți County, Romania, located on the Danube (in the area of the Banat known as Clisura Dunării – ''Banatska Klisura'' in Serbian). It is composed of a single village, Svinița. It is one of four localiti ...

, Dubova, Eșelnița, Ilovița, and Breznița-Ocol).

Name

The Romanian name is Defileul Dunării. River Danube is called in Romanian. The sometimes used local name clisura derives from Serbian; Klisura means "pass", "gorge", "gate" and "sharp rock" in Serbian. It is derived from the Greek '' kleisoura'', which in turn derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''clausura'', meaning "closed entity", ide est "monastery, castle, fort". The term was applied by the Byzantines to fortified mountain districts controlling important passes.

Geography

The region is located in southern Romanian Banat, along the northern bank of the river

, at the border with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It spans from the Nera in the west, and Gura Văii or Cazanele Dunării in the east. The settlements lie in the foothills and river banks below the Banat mountains of Locva and Almăj. The Danube enters by the Baziaș village. The distance between Baziaș and Gura Văii is ca. 140 km.Vitanos, p. 121 On the other side of the Danube, in Serbia, the municipalities are Veliko Gradište,

Golubac Golubac ( sr-Cyrl, Голубац, ; ) is a village and municipality located in the Braničevo District of eastern Serbia. Situated on the right side of the Danube river, it is bordered by Romania to the east, Veliko Gradište to the west and ...

, and

Majdanpek Majdanpek ( sr-cyr, Мајданпек; ) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia, and is not far from the border of Romania. According to 2022 census, the municipality of Majdanpek had a population of 14,559 ...

History

Historically, the region belonged to the Banatian Military Frontier of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, and was divided into "

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

" (Romanian) and Serb sections. With the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

(1920), the region was given to

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Serbs in the region supported the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

Demographics

The region has a trans-ethnic character owing to the co-habitation of Romanians and Serbs. The population of the region is composed of

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

and

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

. Most of the localities have a Romanian majority, while

, Pojejena, and

are majority Serb. The Czech presence is especially in and around Gârnic.

Economy

Notable people

* Radenko Almažanović (1891–1941), Serbian actor, worked in the Novi Sad theatre.Popov/Bašić 1994, p. 109 *

Miodrag Belodedici Miodrag Belodedici (; ; born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a sweeper (association football), sweeper. Nicknamed ''The Deer'' due to his elegant Tackle (football move), tackles, he ...

(born 1964), Romanian retired footballer, won the European cup with Steaua București and Red Star Belgrade (1985, 1990).

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Clisuradunarii.com – Tourism and general information

Clisura-dunarii.com – Tourism and general information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clisura Dunarii Regions of Romania Banat Danube Geography of Romania Serb communities in Romania