Trips

Sat., 6/2/12 - Kostolac, Serbia and the Viminacium Roman Ruins
            This morning we docked in Kostolac, Serbia.  After a short slide show of the Roman ruins and archeological project at Viminacium we took a ten minute bus ride out to tour the ruins.  Viminacium means "willow city" and was a city and military camp from the first to the fifth c. CE when Attila the Hun invaded and completely destroyed the whole city.  In 1884 archeologists identified the outlines and some foundations in farmers' fields under 3 to 5 feet of soil.  The coal strip mine for the nearby electric and steam plant plowed through the necropolis and destroyed 1500 graves.  The plant will mine to one side now until 2040, giving the archeologists time to uncover and remove the other graves.

Beautiful Blue Danube	Kostolac, Serbia on the Mlava river
Typical house and garden	Decorated house
Strip mine	Steam pipes from the power plant into town
Viminacium       Using modern technology more is being discovered and excavated with the help of grants and world-wide foundations.       A wealthy first c. home, Domus, is being restores to provide a science center with lab, visitors' dorm rooms, museum, conference room, and workshops to teach Roman pottery making, Roman cooking, etc.	World-wide support
Grant from the US	Model of the town of Viminacium
Courtyard of the Center	Restored art
Ceiling in the visitors' center	Tile-work in the visitors' center
Tile-work in the visitors' center	Tile-work in the visitors' center
Tile-work in the visitors' center	We visited the ruins of the Terme-Roman baths.  It is under a wood-laminated and material tent to protect it from the elements.  There are well-defined remains of four trepidaria (hot pools, each with its own furnace), one frigiderium (cold bath), heated floor, changing and oil rooms, and a row of stone toilets.       Then we walked to the necropolis, also under a tented covering.  In the center is the tomb of Trajanus Decius and other graves, both pagan and Christian, around it.  We went down into the "underworld" and entered three tomb vaults to see the original frescos inside. Two were pagan and one Christian, by the symbolism of the pictures.
Roman Baths	Roman Baths
Roman Baths - Latrine	Roman Baths - Latrine
Imperial Mausoleum grave sites	Imperial Mausoleum grave sites
Imperial Mausoleum grave sites	After visiting Viminacium, we continued our cruise down the Danube.
Town and farms	River dredge
Town of Moldova-Veche	Rowing on the river - Moldova Noua, Romania in the background
Wind turbines at Moldova Noua, Romania	Camping along the Danube
Unfinished bridge between Romania and the former Yugoslavia	Golubac Fortress, Serbia
Golubac Fortress and mountains, Serbia	Looking down the Danube
Golubac Fortress, Serbia	Rock formations on the Romanian side of the river
Rock formations on the Romanian side of the river	We were fascinated by the vertical plowing of the fields - you have to wonder about erosion

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