It was an important strategic point: defences from the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, 19th and 20th century are all visible.
During the Roman period it was the base of the lower Danube fleet, the Classis Flavia Moesica, and in the fourth century the commander of the Legio I Iovia was stationed here. The site is mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum and by Ammianus Marcellinus, as well as other sources. Around the important military base was a sizable civilian settlement.
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