EU funds to help restore ancient Danube fortress

EU funds to help restore ancient Danube fortress

BELGRADE -- An agreement on a project to renovate the Golubac Fortress as part of the Danube Strategy in Serbia was signed at the government HQ in Belgrade on Tuesday.

The EU delegation has earmarked funds amounting to around EUR 6.6 million, with works expected to start in July, ending in 2016.

The agreement was signed by Acting Minister of Economy Igor Mirović, the Minister without portfolio for EU Integrations Branko Ružuć, Austrian Development Agency Managing Director Martin Ledolter, Golubac Mayor Zoran Pajkić and Tvrđava Golubački Grad Acting Director Iskra Maksimović.

The contractor will be selected by a tender procedure by the end of May or the beginning of June, and the works will be completed in 2016, Mirović said.

The Golubac Fortress is situated on the right bank of the Danube, at the mouth of the Đerdap Gorge in eastern Serbia.

Standing up to 25 metres tall and connected by a wall, the nine massive towers were positioned so as to allow the ancient city to resist attacks from both land and water.

The age of the fortress, first mentioned in written records in 1335, remains unknown. However, archaeological finds indicate that the first fortification on the Danube at Golubac was built by ancient Romans in the 1st century AD.