Severin Fortress

SEVERIN MEDIEVAL FORTRESS
– BASTION OF ANTI-OTTOMAN RESISTANCE –

The first stone fortress on the Romanian territory, bastion of the anti-Ottoman resistance and jewel in the crown of the rulers of Wallachia, the Medieval Fortress of Severin was the capital of the Banat of Severin (Terra Zeurini) for three centuries, starting in 1233. The voivode Litovoi, and probably Vlaicu Vodă and Mihail I (son of Mircea the Great), died defending it.

From the beginning, the fortress was a constant military and religious dispute between the Hungarian crown, the Bulgarians and the Wallachian voivodes – especially between Catholics and Orthodox.

In 1247, the Kingdom of Hungary brought the Knights Hospitallers into the country, offering them residence in Severin, where they contributed to the construction of the Medieval Citadel (Castrum Zeurini), mentioned in the Knights’ charter of 1247.

The commander of the fortress bore the title ‘ban’, a title adopted by many Wallachian rulers.

In the second half of the 14th century, Severin became the second most important centre in Wallachia, after the capital of Arges, as evidenced by the establishment of the second Orthodox Metropolitanate in 1370, during the reign of Vladislav Vlaicu.

At the beginning of the 15th century, Severinul was no longer a rural settlement or a simple market town, but a real city. There was a strong Catholic and Orthodox Christian community, as evidenced by three churches, including one whose ruins can still be seen today in the archaeological park of the Iron Gates Region Museum (known as the buttressed church).

For over 300 years, Severin Fortress was the gateway from the Danube to Central Europe and part of a wider defence system on both sides of the river.

The fortress was conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1524, and after the Battle of Mohács in 1526, he ordered its demolition. The carved stones were reused to build fortresses south of the Danube, such as the Fetislam Fortress (today in Serbia at Kladovo).

After the fortress fell, the inhabitants of Severin moved to Cerneți, a safer settlement about 5 kilometres away.

The fortress was not a peaceful aristocratic residence but a military outpost. No artistic treasures were found, only weapons: large quantities of stone cannonballs, iron rods, bullets and arrowheads, indicating its defensive purpose and local arms production.

The castle had a massive keep, six defensive towers, two concentric stone walls and a deep moat filled with water.

In 2010, Drobeta Turnu Severin Town Hall obtained European funding through the project “Rehabilitation of the Theodor Costescu Cultural Palace and the Severin Citadel”, totalling 57.879 million lei, 42.489 million lei of which was non-reimbursable. The project, under the Regional Operational Programme (2007-2013), Axis 5, focused on the restoration and sustainable promotion of cultural heritage. It financed the restoration of parts of the fortress walls, the construction of a tourist pavilion, two courtyard pavilions, the enclosure, the bridge and the adjacent park.

Thus, an almost forgotten (for almost 600 years) “ruin” has been brought back to life and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region, hosting large-scale cultural and artistic events. Such projects have remodelled tourism in Drobeta Turnu Severin.