Trajan’s Bridge, which once connected the banks of the Danube between present-day Kladovo in Serbia and Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Romania, stretched for more than one kilometer and held the title of the world’s longest bridge for an astonishing 1,000 years.
Near the present-day village of Kostolac, close to Kladovo, where the Danube flows through the Iron Gates Gorge, stood Trajan’s Bridge. It linked the Roman provinces of Upper Moesia and Dacia (modern-day Serbia and Romania). This strategically vital structure remained the longest bridge ever built anywhere in the world for nearly a millennium.
The bridge was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajan, better known simply as Emperor Trajan, and was officially opened in 105 AD following the Romans’ second campaign against the Dacians.
At the beginning of the second century, Trajan ordered the construction of a road through the Iron Gates Gorge and a bridge of unprecedented dimensions. His primary objective was to cross the Danube and move his troops onto the river’s left bank, then controlled by the Dacians. Information about the bridge, its appearance, and its construction was recorded by its architect, as well as by historians Cassius Dio and Polybius, and even by the Byzantine poet Kekes.
According to historians, the bridge was inspired by Trajan’s reported statement after he came to power in 98 AD:
“I shall be honored when I make Dacia a Roman province and cross the Danube and the Euphrates by bridge.”
Trajan carefully selected the location for the crossing. He chose a section where the Danube was shallower, the riverbed sandy, and the current calmer. One of the engineering masterstrokes was utilizing the nearby Șimian Island, which allowed builders to temporarily divide the Danube into two channels, making the construction of this extraordinary structure significantly easier. As a result, most of the bridge’s piers were built on dry ground.
The bridge was constructed of stone, featured arches high above the water, 20 massive piers, and monumental gateways at both ends. Its scale is perhaps best illustrated by the dimensions of the piers, which measured approximately 18-19 by 33-34 meters and were built with pointed upstream ends to reduce the tremendous pressure of the river’s current. The bridge itself was about 14.5 meters wide, while the distance between the piers measured 55 meters.
Its appearance was immortalized years later on Trajan’s Column in Rome.
The bridge measured 1,097.5 meters in length and nearly 15 meters in width. It was designed by the greatest architect of the era, Apollodorus of Damascus, making it one of the most significant achievements of Roman engineering. Construction lasted two years, from 103 to 105 AD.
After its completion, Trajan ordered the following inscription to be carved into the rock above the road:
“Emperor Caesar, son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Trajan Augustus Germanicus, Chief Priest, holder of tribunician power for the fourth time, Father of the Fatherland, Consul for the fourth time, having overcome the mountain and Danubian cliffs, built this road.”
The bridge was destroyed about two centuries later on the orders of Emperor Aurelian (270-275 AD), when the Romans were forced to abandon the province of Dacia under pressure from invading barbarian tribes and sought to prevent further incursions into Roman territory. Other sources claim it was demolished just two decades after its construction by Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD), although that theory is considered less likely since the Romans still controlled Dacia at the time. Some historians believe the bridge gradually collapsed much later due to the force of the river.
The remains of the first piers on both sides of the Danube—12 in total—can still be seen today. The rest were swept away by the river, while two piers were intentionally demolished in 1906 by the International Danube Commission because they obstructed navigation. Even so, the surviving 12 piers continue to stand as a testament to the monumental engineering wonder that existed on the territory of present-day Serbia nearly 2,000 years ago.
Watch this stunning VIDEO reconstruction of Trajan’s Bridge:
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Source: Serbian Times; Foto: Wikimedia Creative Commons