Thematic Route: The Cultural Heritage Route

Name of the Touristic Attraction: Tricule Fortress

Location: in Svinița Commune, Mehedinți County, at 78 kilometri from Drobeta Turnu Severin.

Description: Located 4 km downstream of Şviniţa, Tricule Citadel is one of the world’s most spectacular sunken edifices. Consisting of three towers, currently, only 2 of them are visible, the third one can only be seen when the Danube waters are very low. The towers that are still visible today are 10 and 11 meters high. The three towers were built out of stone and the walls had a thickness of 1.40 meters at the basement and almost 0.8 meters at the top. The towers had three levels inside, and were used for various purposes: as food storage or for surveillance and defending the area. As a result of archaeological researches, no traces of chimneys or windows have been found to prove that they would have been used as dwellings. And so, it is deduced that they were used for military purposes. The distance between tower 1 and tower 2 is of 20 m, and between them two and the last one is of 40 m. The first two towers are built on a steep cliff and the third on a layer of yellow ground. Trikule Fortress Ensemble was flooded by the construction of the Iron Gates I storage lake.

Legend/ Story/ Impressions/ Recommendations: The fortress played an important role in the battles against the Ottoman expansion. Petru Petrovici Leader of Lugoj, Mehadia and the rest of the citadels on the Danube’s Valley is the one that built the fortress with its three towers, whose position was that of a triangle.

Information and Contact:

Tricule fortress is located on the administrative territory of Sviniţa Commune::

City-Hall: phone: +4 0252 368 407, e-mail: primariasvinita@gmail.com

Route close to other Thematic Routes:

 In the area you can also visit:

1. Danube Cluster
2. Eibenthal Village
3. „Trescovăț” Volcano Neck
4. Cioaca Borii
5. Svinița Ethnographic Museum
6. The Water Mills

Touristic Offers:

• The Trescovăţ Ecotourism Route and Sviniţa-Tricule Ecotourism Route start in the area

Other useful information:

 Events in Svinița:

       – Feast of the Fig Tree, in Svinița – in August-September

       – Feast of the Danube Villages, in July

       – The Hitting of the Eggs, on Easter

       – “Maica Calea” Tradition, in Spring

       – The Twinning Feast, in May

GPS Coordinates: lat, long: 44.4799913, 22.1430115, elevation: 69 m