Iron Gate Gorges

I traversed the Iron Gate in 2008 on a Viking Cruise River Boat. The Iron Gate is actually four successive gorges (or gates) where the river narrows and flows swiftly through the gap between the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains. The difficulty in navigating these waters stopped the Roman advance up the Danube in the 100's CE, so the Romans had to find land routes across the Danube River. In the 1860's the gorges were cleared of rock obstructions and the installed systems of locks have make the Danube easy for shipping to navigate.