Viminacium Roman remains were meant to be the highlight of today but unfortunately the timing of the tours did not work out.
It was raining when I woke up, shopped, looked around a wet Požarevac and started my day's hike in full waterproofs. As I left town I had a quick look at the "Ethno" park where a treaty was signed in 1718 between the Austrians and the Turks although the peace did not last long. Not much to see in the park, everything seemed shut up. As the road turned into a track at the edge of town I saw red and white waymarks indicating a footpath. I have been seeing similar marks since the Belgrade area, but as I do not know where they are going they are of no use, although they do show there are active hikers around.
On reaching the embankment of the Mogila river I headed north (or maybe it was the Mlava river, the maps are contradictory). The going was good until I crossed a road and parallel railway. After that it was good for a while but deteriorated such that the last kilometre before I reached a bridge across the river was really overgrown. It was a battle to get through shrubs growing in the track but surprisingly my waterproofs did not get ripped. Fortunately the bridge I was aiming for was still in existence but missing a number of planks.
On the other side of the river (now definitely the Mlava) the track along the embankment was good and the power station on my route slowly became bigger as I headed North. There were also signs of the strip mining that was supplying the power station with coal. I walked under a conveyor belt and could see signs of restoration work to return the land into a natural state.
From the power station it was up the road to the Viminacium Roman site. This was a major fortification and city for two legions and may have the mausoleum of a Roman emperor. It was after 2 pm when I arrived. The site is spilt between several locations which, I discovered, are visited by a tour. There was a tour at 3:00 pm and it took two hours finishing at 5:00 pm. Sadly this was too late for me as I had a number of kilometres to walk before dark, and with a ticket home booked, no flexibility. I looked at what I was able too which included some excavations but you really needed someone to tell you what you were looking at.
The archaeological site is surrounded by an open cast mine and large draglines could be seen in the distance. Much of the archaeological work was completed ahead of the remains being destroyed by mining.
I returned to the river embankment and walked on past numerous fishermen occupying both sides of the channel. Gradually, as I ventured into a more remote areas, I left the fishermen behind and as the shadows were lengthening, found a place among the trees to pitch my tent for the night.
I walked 34.6 kilometres today including a couple of false trails. A GPS file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, on ViewRanger.com as johnpon0025 and on Wandermap.net.
It was raining when I woke up, shopped, looked around a wet Požarevac and started my day's hike in full waterproofs. As I left town I had a quick look at the "Ethno" park where a treaty was signed in 1718 between the Austrians and the Turks although the peace did not last long. Not much to see in the park, everything seemed shut up. As the road turned into a track at the edge of town I saw red and white waymarks indicating a footpath. I have been seeing similar marks since the Belgrade area, but as I do not know where they are going they are of no use, although they do show there are active hikers around.
On reaching the embankment of the Mogila river I headed north (or maybe it was the Mlava river, the maps are contradictory). The going was good until I crossed a road and parallel railway. After that it was good for a while but deteriorated such that the last kilometre before I reached a bridge across the river was really overgrown. It was a battle to get through shrubs growing in the track but surprisingly my waterproofs did not get ripped. Fortunately the bridge I was aiming for was still in existence but missing a number of planks.
On the other side of the river (now definitely the Mlava) the track along the embankment was good and the power station on my route slowly became bigger as I headed North. There were also signs of the strip mining that was supplying the power station with coal. I walked under a conveyor belt and could see signs of restoration work to return the land into a natural state.
From the power station it was up the road to the Viminacium Roman site. This was a major fortification and city for two legions and may have the mausoleum of a Roman emperor. It was after 2 pm when I arrived. The site is spilt between several locations which, I discovered, are visited by a tour. There was a tour at 3:00 pm and it took two hours finishing at 5:00 pm. Sadly this was too late for me as I had a number of kilometres to walk before dark, and with a ticket home booked, no flexibility. I looked at what I was able too which included some excavations but you really needed someone to tell you what you were looking at.
The archaeological site is surrounded by an open cast mine and large draglines could be seen in the distance. Much of the archaeological work was completed ahead of the remains being destroyed by mining.
I returned to the river embankment and walked on past numerous fishermen occupying both sides of the channel. Gradually, as I ventured into a more remote areas, I left the fishermen behind and as the shadows were lengthening, found a place among the trees to pitch my tent for the night.
I walked 34.6 kilometres today including a couple of false trails. A GPS file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, on ViewRanger.com as johnpon0025 and on Wandermap.net.
 |
| Embankment walk |
 |
| Dragline in action viewed from Viminacium site |
No comments:
Post a Comment