Serbia - Djerdap National Park

The Djerdap National Park embraces part of the area of the Djerdap Canyon known as the Iron Gates in the central part of the Danube river course,and is divided by the international border running along the middle of the river into the southern - Yugoslav and the northern - Rumanian part. The total area of the National Park is 63.600 ha and the protection zone consists of another 93.968 ha.The morphological characteristics of the region which are the main source of attraction and constitute a natural phenomenon are determined by the 100 km. long Djerdap canyon forged by the Danube - the second largest river in Europe which flows through or forms the natural frontier of eight states. The morphological variety of the region is enhanced by the existence of a large number of gorge-like valleys formed by the Danube's tributaries, karst reliefs on limestone plateaus and other phenomena. The geological history of this region is complex and interesting. There are locations where the succession of various geological periods over a span of tens of millions of years can clearly be traced.The Djerdap Canyon is the longest fissure in Europe and a rare natural phenomenon. There are sections where the vertical cliffs rise 300m above the level of the Danube and the measured depth of the so-called "cauldrons" goes up to 82 m. Thanks to the sheltered position of the Iron Gates more than 60 forest and shrub communities heve been preserved many of which are relics of previous, tertiary forest communities. Numerous plant varieties can be found including tertiary relicts and species whose range in Europe has been significantly reduced.