Đerdap National Park & Iron Gates

Đerdap was declared a national park in 1974 and covers about 636 square kilometres. In 2020 UNESCO endorsed the wider Djerdap UNESCO Global Geopark, about 1,330 square kilometres across the municipalities of Golubac, Majdanpek, Kladovo and Negotin, the first geopark in Serbia.

Lepenski Vir, on the Danube near Donji Milanovac, was settled roughly between 6500 and 5500 BCE; its trapezoid houses and large-eyed, fish-like stone sculptures are among the most striking finds of European prehistory. The site is now protected under a modern roof beside a visitor centre. Roman engineers later carved a road along the gorge and Emperor Trajan ordered a bridge across the Danube in the 2nd century CE.

Golubac Fortress dates from the 14th century and changed hands many times between Hungarians, Ottomans and Serbs before it was handed to the Serbian prince Mihailo Obrenović in 1867. The Iron Gate dam, built from 1964 to 1972, raised the river and flooded the fortress's lower slopes. After a major reconstruction, the fortress fully reopened to visitors in 2019.

The Đerdap shore is a string of small river towns, such as Golubac, Donji Milanovac and Kladovo, where life is tied to the Danube: fishing, boating, and summer evenings on riverside promenades. Danube fish soup and grilled river fish feature on local menus. Nearby Tumane Monastery, a few kilometres from Golubac, draws Orthodox pilgrims from across Serbia.