00:00Welcome to Balkan Trip!
00:03Did you know that there is the oldest European city in Serbia, Lepenský Vir,
00:09dating from the period 6,000 to 5,500 BC.
00:14That there is the narrowest but deepest gorge in Europe right across Serbia on the Danube River,
00:21and that there is an incredible view of the Gjermany from the surrounding cliffs.
00:26So join me on this beautiful journey through Eastern Serbia.
00:39About 130 km east of Belgrade, there is a fortress,
00:43which you will recognize by the views of Serbia.
00:46It is the Golubac fortress, the place where the National Park of Gjerdap begins.
00:51It is not known who exactly built the Golubac fortress,
00:55but it is believed that it was built in the spirit of the Serbian fortifications of the 13th and 14th centuries.
01:01The Serbs, Hungarians and Turks constantly fought for it,
01:05so that it went from one ruler's hand to another.
01:08It was never conquered.
01:10And this is how it got its name.
01:12The story is about a Byzantine princess, Jelena,
01:15who was actually imprisoned in the highest tower of the fortress,
01:19that is Šeširkula, which is located at an altitude of 75 meters today.
01:23She was imprisoned there for the rest of her life.
01:26She was very sad.
01:28The story says that her only real friends were pigeons.
01:33At the end of her life, she said a sentence,
01:37which will remain here, because people start calling this place after that.
01:41She said that this beautiful city was her secret for the rest of her life.
01:45But one thing remains here, that she had a real friendship with pigeons.
01:51Today, the Golubac Fortress is part of the National Park of Djerda,
01:55based on the natural reserve of Golubac cities,
01:58which is rich in rare plant species and is located in the eastern part of Serbia.
02:02On this stream of the Danube, in these 100 kilometers,
02:05which passes through the National Park of Djerda,
02:08it is specific that here is the widest Danube,
02:11and in some parts the narrowest and deepest part of the Danube.
02:16Here you have more than 40 cultural, historical and archeological sites,
02:20which only shows the fact that in the last 10 millennia,
02:23the first modern civilizations have been here,
02:26so different times have intertwined.
02:30This region was once part of the great Roman Empire,
02:34where only a small part of the population lived.
02:38In the middle of the 19th century,
02:41This region was once part of the great Roman Empire,
02:45where only a small part of the population lived.
02:49And as a key evidence that the Romans were in these areas,
02:52is the Triangle Table.
02:54And the Triangle Table is actually the inscription
02:57carved into the rock above the Danube.
03:00In the National Park of Djerda, you can also see Decebal's Head,
03:04the largest carved sculpture in Europe, 40 meters high,
03:08which is located on the other side of the Danube.
03:11Decebal was the last king of the Dacians,
03:14who resisted Roman attacks for a long time,
03:17but Trajan still ruled him.
03:19When the Roman troops surrounded him in 106,
03:22he committed suicide.
03:24This was the end of the great campaign of Trajan against Dacia.
03:28Emperor Trajan, by the way,
03:30worked his way through the Danube,
03:33during the preparation of the war with the Dacians.
03:36The Dacians were on the other side of the Danube,
03:39in today's Romania.
03:41The main opponent of him and his army
03:44was Decebal, or Decebalus,
03:47the last king of the Dacians.
03:50Trajan and Decebal are still seen today,
03:53probably under the Dock and over the Danube.
04:01When you visit the Djerda gorge and the National Park of Djerda,
04:04take a break and try the fish soup,
04:07which is made from fresh fish,
04:09caught from the Danube.
04:11They say that every part of Serbia has its own recipe
04:14for preparing fish soup.
04:16We have prepared traditional Golubac soup
04:19with several types of fish.
04:21All fresh fish was caught yesterday.
04:24It is cooked on the trees,
04:26which we collect next to the Danube.
04:29The best on these trees are,
04:31for example, herring, mackerel, whatever.
04:34The smoke from these trees gives a soft taste.
04:38This is the real Alaska soup,
04:40which we learned to cook from our ancestors,
04:43the way they cooked it.
04:47I can't wait to try what we made today.
04:50You have to eat it!
04:55The unstoppable station
04:57next to the National Park of Djerda
04:59is the archeological site of Lepenski Vir.
05:02It has a population of 9,000.
05:05It is said to be the oldest city in Europe.
05:10Lepenski Vir is the oldest
05:12organized human settlement in Europe.
05:15It is the beginning of the settlement life in Europe.
05:18The Lepenskis left a lot of it for us.
05:21The Lepenskis, who lived here,
05:23started to inhabit this area more than 10,000 years ago.
05:28The oldest traces are marked around 9,500 years B.C.
05:37The highest level of development
05:39was reached around 6,300 years B.C.
05:42At that time, the way of building houses
05:45and their architecture were already perfected.
05:48Probably the most recognizable and significant representatives
05:52of the culture of Lepenski Vir are not people,
05:55they were very interesting.
05:57These are the famous sculptures,
05:59which represented the fishermen of divinity.
06:02In this way, we saw that the Lepenskis
06:05brought the adoration of water and fish
06:08to the level of divinity.
06:11Some of the weapons, clothes and figurines
06:14can be seen in the new exhibition of the museum.
06:21It seems that life here has long been connected
06:24to the river, as well as to the belief in deities,
06:27but also in creatures from the Danube.
06:29Some stories are still believed today.
06:32After 200 years,
06:34some say 200, some say 50,
06:36there is a carpenter,
06:38he works as a carpenter, as a fishmonger.
06:41Once, it was early, around 6 a.m.,
06:44I went to the shop.
06:46If the deceased was shouting from the other street,
06:50she would return from the shop.
06:52We met on this bridge.
06:54We were talking to each other.
06:57We heard something,
06:59a carpenter, a carpenter,
07:01but we didn't know what.
07:03Suddenly, above us,
07:05like a fire,
07:07we hit each other in the head,
07:10and it went over the river.
07:13When it went up the river,
07:16it went like a big fish.
07:23Whether you believe in myths and legends
07:26or stories about creatures from the Danube,
07:29you will agree that a visit to the east of Serbia
07:32is inevitable, if you are led to the Balkans.
07:35You watched the Balkan Trip.
07:37I believe that at least for a moment
07:39you went back in time,
07:41while we visited the National Park Djerda,
07:43where we saw the Golubac Fortress,
07:45the Triangle Table,
07:47but also the first permanent settlement
07:49in the area of Europe, the Lepenski Vir.
07:51See you soon!
07:53Welcome to the Balkans with Krzysztof
07:56Translation by Katarzyna Bidzińska
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