Statue of Decebalus
Encyclopedia
The Statue of Dacian king Decebalus
is a 40-meter high statue that is the tallest rock sculpture
in Europe. It is located on the Danube
's rocky bank, near the city of Orşova
, Romania
.
The idea belonged to Romanian businessman and historian Iosif Constantin Drăgan
and it took 10 years (1994–2004) for twelve sculptors to finish it, at a cost of over one million dollars.
Controversial businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan
financed the execution of this giant monument inspired by the famous rock carving from Rushmore, USA.
On the Danube
river`s banks, near the town of Orsova
, stands Decebal’s head carved in a giant rock, 40 m high and 25 wide. The Dacian king’s statue is the greatest in Europe: only six meters shorter than the Statue of Liberty
, eight meters taller than the Christ the Redeemer
’s monument in Rio de Janeiro
, and ten meters taller than the legendary Colossus of Rhodes
.
Two teams of six alpinists-sculptors toiled over the colossal work for eight years. One ton of dynamite was used to shape the rock.
Situated within the Dubova
commune area near Orsova, in Mededinti County, the Mraconia Bay seems out of this world. You can only reach the floating bridge by boat, where Europe’s greatest sculpture arises from the bay.
Opposite Decebalus’s head, on the Serbian banks of the Danube river, the famous Tabula Traiana was carved in the early 2nd century CE, a monument which marks the march of the Roman Empire’s troops on their way to Dacia. Here, near the Small Kazan gorge (Romanian: Cazanele Mici) is the Danube`s deepest point, reaching a depth of 120 meters.
From the rock’s base up to the scaffold, the alpinists-sculptors must climb for half an hour. They work in two shifts, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All twelve people work from March to October.
“It’s very dangerous work. Each of us has his own route; it has been like that for years. We step on the same rock in the same spot. If you get closer, you can see the rock worn out in the spot where we’ve kept climbing for several years.”
A similar risky operation is handling the scaffold. Once they are up, the sculptors handle with enviable skill the pneumatic hammers. For the carving of Decebal’s face in rock, the classic method is used with a hammer, a center punch, and a sledge hammer.
The communication with the floating bridge is ensured by two walkie-talkies, but it does not help much. Up there everyone is on his own.
“In the summer when the rock heats up from the sun, you can actually fry eggs on Decebal’s head!”, says sculptor Rudolf Cocic describing the conditions up there. Several years ago, two support pitons detached from the support cable placed around the rock.
The team of five people from that time fell off the scaffold several meters down in a hollow space. Fortunately they were not seriously injured. Recently, one of the alpinists was bitten by a viper hiding in one of the sustaining spots. His colleagues injected him immediately with an antiviperine serum and his life was saved.
Because there was soil underneath, it could have detached and fallen. That is why sculptor Florin Cotarcea, the work coordinator, decided to give up on that giant block of rock. A great deal of Decebal’s nose was dynamited for a greater security.
Yet the portrait was not affected as Decebal went through an esthetical operation: his nose was reshaped and strengthened with iron and cement coating.
The work of these sculptors-alpinists is a pioneer work in Romania
. The two teams struggled to shorten the work’s duration.
“The Americans worked at the Rushmore project for 14 years. The work was finished with the help of over 300 sculptors-alpinists, not counting the support staff. After eight years we are almost close to the finish line with the help of twelve men. Nevertheless we cannot assess the work’s finish because there are always unexpected matters to be solved, such as rock breakage. Overall, in about two years’ time the work should reach its end”, said Rudolf Cocic.
Right in front of the statue, but on the Serbia
n shore facing Romania, there is an ancient memorial plaque (Tabula Traiana) commemorating the victories of the Roman Empire
over the Dacia
n kingdom in 105
.
This is not his only project. I.C. Dragan promised the mayor of Cluj-Napoca
, Gheorghe Funar, that he would allot funds for the execution of a copy of Trajan's Column
at full scale, a project on pause for the moment.
Decebalus
Decebalus or "The Brave" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors...
is a 40-meter high statue that is the tallest rock sculpture
Rock cut architecture
Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating buildings and other physical structures by carving natural rock. In India the term 'cave' is often applied, and in China 'cavern,' but one must differentiate natural caves from rock-cut architecture which is man-made and designed along the...
in Europe. It is located on the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
's rocky bank, near the city of Orşova
Orsova
Orșova is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the county located in the Banat historical region. It is situated just above the Iron Gates, on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube.- History :The first documented...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
.
The idea belonged to Romanian businessman and historian Iosif Constantin Drăgan
Iosif Constantin Dragan
Iosif Constantin Drăgan was a Romanian and Italian businessman, writer and historian. In 2005, he was the second wealthiest Romanian, according to the Romanian financial magazine Capital, having a wealth estimated at $850 million...
and it took 10 years (1994–2004) for twelve sculptors to finish it, at a cost of over one million dollars.
Controversial businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan
Iosif Constantin Dragan
Iosif Constantin Drăgan was a Romanian and Italian businessman, writer and historian. In 2005, he was the second wealthiest Romanian, according to the Romanian financial magazine Capital, having a wealth estimated at $850 million...
financed the execution of this giant monument inspired by the famous rock carving from Rushmore, USA.
On the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
river`s banks, near the town of Orsova
Orsova
Orșova is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the county located in the Banat historical region. It is situated just above the Iron Gates, on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube.- History :The first documented...
, stands Decebal’s head carved in a giant rock, 40 m high and 25 wide. The Dacian king’s statue is the greatest in Europe: only six meters shorter than the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
, eight meters taller than the Christ the Redeemer
Christ the Redeemer (statue)
Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world and the 5th largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is tall, including its pedestal, and wide. It weighs 635 tonnes , and is located at the peak of the Corcovado...
’s monument in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, and ten meters taller than the legendary Colossus of Rhodes
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of...
.
Two teams of six alpinists-sculptors toiled over the colossal work for eight years. One ton of dynamite was used to shape the rock.
Situated within the Dubova
Dubova, Mehedinti
Dubova is a commune located in Mehedinţi County, Romania. It is one of four localities in the county located in the Banat. The commune is composed of three villages: Baia Nouă , Dubova and Eibenthal...
commune area near Orsova, in Mededinti County, the Mraconia Bay seems out of this world. You can only reach the floating bridge by boat, where Europe’s greatest sculpture arises from the bay.
Opposite Decebalus’s head, on the Serbian banks of the Danube river, the famous Tabula Traiana was carved in the early 2nd century CE, a monument which marks the march of the Roman Empire’s troops on their way to Dacia. Here, near the Small Kazan gorge (Romanian: Cazanele Mici) is the Danube`s deepest point, reaching a depth of 120 meters.
12 great artists
Rudolf Cocic (44 years old) has been there ever since the beginning of work: "We started this adventure around the summer of 1994. It all started by clearing the trees covering the rock. Then we cleaned the rocks, the massive cliffs which put people’s life in danger”, recalls the man who spent his last eight years either on the floating bridge or up the cliff. “The access up to the cliff is very difficult because of the water from the bay. We could not make use of any kind of equipment. Everything was carried by boat and on our back. It’s hard to get up here with bare hands, let alone carrying a 40–50 kilo sack on your back!”, says Cocic.From the rock’s base up to the scaffold, the alpinists-sculptors must climb for half an hour. They work in two shifts, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All twelve people work from March to October.
“It’s very dangerous work. Each of us has his own route; it has been like that for years. We step on the same rock in the same spot. If you get closer, you can see the rock worn out in the spot where we’ve kept climbing for several years.”
A similar risky operation is handling the scaffold. Once they are up, the sculptors handle with enviable skill the pneumatic hammers. For the carving of Decebal’s face in rock, the classic method is used with a hammer, a center punch, and a sledge hammer.
The communication with the floating bridge is ensured by two walkie-talkies, but it does not help much. Up there everyone is on his own.
“In the summer when the rock heats up from the sun, you can actually fry eggs on Decebal’s head!”, says sculptor Rudolf Cocic describing the conditions up there. Several years ago, two support pitons detached from the support cable placed around the rock.
The team of five people from that time fell off the scaffold several meters down in a hollow space. Fortunately they were not seriously injured. Recently, one of the alpinists was bitten by a viper hiding in one of the sustaining spots. His colleagues injected him immediately with an antiviperine serum and his life was saved.
Opulence or work of art?
Slowly, Decebal’s face started to take shape. His cap and beard were defined and then followed the eyes and mouth. The biggest problems were with the nose being seven meters high. A massive eight-ton block cracked.Because there was soil underneath, it could have detached and fallen. That is why sculptor Florin Cotarcea, the work coordinator, decided to give up on that giant block of rock. A great deal of Decebal’s nose was dynamited for a greater security.
Yet the portrait was not affected as Decebal went through an esthetical operation: his nose was reshaped and strengthened with iron and cement coating.
The work of these sculptors-alpinists is a pioneer work in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. The two teams struggled to shorten the work’s duration.
“The Americans worked at the Rushmore project for 14 years. The work was finished with the help of over 300 sculptors-alpinists, not counting the support staff. After eight years we are almost close to the finish line with the help of twelve men. Nevertheless we cannot assess the work’s finish because there are always unexpected matters to be solved, such as rock breakage. Overall, in about two years’ time the work should reach its end”, said Rudolf Cocic.
Right in front of the statue, but on the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n shore facing Romania, there is an ancient memorial plaque (Tabula Traiana) commemorating the victories of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
over the Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
n kingdom in 105
105
Year 105 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Candidus and Iulius...
.
The financier
Today at the monument’s base there is an inscription with the words: DECEBALUS REX DRAGAN FECIT. The sculptors say that Iosif Constantin Drăgan, financer of Decebal’s rock carving, has spent over one million dollars for this work up to now.This is not his only project. I.C. Dragan promised the mayor of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, Gheorghe Funar, that he would allot funds for the execution of a copy of Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, which commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near...
at full scale, a project on pause for the moment.