Drobeta-Turnu Severin (Romania)

Drobeta-Turnu Severin is a Danube RIver cruise port and city in Romania's Oltenia Province (Mehedinti County) with population around 95,000. The city is on Danube's left (north) bank and below the gorge Iron Gates that partially forms the Serbia-Romania border. Drobeta is approx 220 km (135 ml) southeast of Timisoara (Romania's 3rd largest city - after Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca) and approx 355 km (220 ml) west of Bucharest (country's capital city).

The settlement was founded by the Romans and initially named Drobeta (Empire's Dacia Province). Near Turnu Severin are the ruins of Trajan's Bridge - Roman Empire's largest - where Danube River has width of approx 1200 m (4000 ft). The Bridge was constructed in three years (103-105 AD) on 20 wooden pillars of stone blocks and had length 1135 m (3724 ft), width 14,6 m (48 ft) and height 18,6 m (61 ft). For its building were used approx 200 hectares of an oak forest. Its 20 arches were supported by stone pillars, of which only 2 remain (visible only at low water levels).

Drobeta was declared town in 121 AD and had population around 14,000. In late-2nd-century (193 AD) it was ranked "colony" with which its citizens received rights equal with Rome's citizens. In the following years the city was expanded with temples, forum, basilica, theater, riverport. In the mid-3rd-century it had land area approx 0,6 km2 and population nearly 40,000.

As cruise port, Drobeta is included in cruisetour itineraries operated by some of Europe's largest river cruise companies - like Nicko Cruises (Mystic Cruises) and aaa. Next table shows the ports sequence of the 14-day itinerary (roundtrip from homeport Passau) on the Nicko-operated ship Bolero. Prices start from ~USD 2500 per person (double occupancy rates).