Podul lui Traian

History

Roman engineer Apollodorus of Damascus built this bridge across the Danube between 103 and 105 AD on Emperor Trajan's orders, to move legions and supplies into Dacia for the war that would end with the province's conquest — at the time, its 1,135-meter span made it the longest bridge of any kind built anywhere in the world. Trajan's successor Hadrian had its wooden superstructure dismantled soon after, reportedly fearing it would let hostile tribes cross the river too easily, and the stone piers that remained gradually crumbled or vanished beneath the water. A severe drought in 1858 briefly exposed twenty of the original piers; today, only the masonry stump on the Romanian bank at Drobeta-Turnu Severin still stands above ground, alongside the ruins of the Roman fort built to guard the bridgehead and a museum devoted to the site's excavation.