On the fortified hill, the settlement existed even before our era. Ram is a fortress on the right bank of the Danube in the eponymous village, just over 100 km from Belgrade. It is located on a cliff descending from the northeast towards the Danube. It is assumed that the fortress was built opposite the Haram fortress, which was located on the opposite bank of the river and of which nothing remains today.

The Ram fortress is erected on a cliff that descends to the Danube from the northwest side. It was built by the Turks to strengthen the defense of the border between Smederevo and Golubac against Hungarian invasions. To understand Ram’s historical past, it is also necessary to consider the surrounding fortifications. Numerous travel writers and researchers of the 18th and 19th centuries identified Ram fortress with the ancient castle Lederat, located downstream on the same bank, and many modern researchers do not distinguish Ram (Hram) from Haram on the opposite bank. Due to this mixing of toponyms, today in literature we encounter information about the ancient Lederat, which is sometimes associated with the fortress on the left bank, and other times with the fortress on the right bank. Similarly, many data will refer to Ram regardless of whether they actually pertain to Ram (Hram) or to Haram. Since the 12th century, there are records of the fortifications Hram and Haram, while the toponym Lederat is no longer mentioned.

In the mid-15th century, Despot Đurađ Branković concluded a truce between Turkey and Hungary. Since trade was important for the Serbian population living on both banks, the despot proposed in 1449 to allow Turkish merchants to freely come to Belgrade, Kovin, Haram, Severin, and Caransebeș, and in return, he would designate places on Turkish territory that Hungarian traders could visit. Judging by the order of the places listed, it can be confidently said that this information refers to the settlement on the northern bank of the Danube, not to Serbian Ram, with which almost all modern researchers associate it. Interestingly, in this regard, he called the settlement on the northern shore Haram, not Hram as mentioned in the 12th century. It is unknown how this toponym changed during the 15th century, but in all subsequent studies this settlement will be called Haram, and the settlement on the right bank – Hram (Ram). Obviously, this change confused many modern researchers and writers, so interpretations of historical events will be mistakenly linked to one place or another.

This fortification had strategic importance until 1521, when the borders of the Turkish Empire expanded northward, and it lost its significance as a border fortress.

The fortress has the shape of an irregular pentagon, with a maximum length of 34 meters and a width of 26 meters. The fortification consists of five towers, similar in architectural concept but with different foundations, one tower at each vertex of the pentagonal base—that is, 3 on the eastern rampart and 2 on the western rampart. The city can be accessed through the Donjon, located in the southwest corner of the fort. The passage with ramparts and a tower had an outer parapet with battlements for sheltering warrior-guards.

The towers are of different shapes, but all have three floors and a battlemented platform, and on each floor there are three arched cannon niches and one brick fireplace. The entrance tower (Donjon tower) has three floors and two battlemented platforms, distinguished by its size and appearance. A brick staircase leads to the ramparts, from where one could access the towers. Around the fortress was a lower outer rampart with a hidden path, as well as a moat, over which a bridge led to the gates. The main innovation is specially constructed artillery openings arranged inside the ramparts and towers, indicating active use of artillery in the defense system. During the Turkish rule, a civilian settlement arose around the fortress, evidenced today by the remains of a hammam and caravanserai. The caravanserai is estimated to be 600 years old and is the only preserved building of this type in Serbia. It can be said that this is the first tourist site built on the most important road from the Balkans northward towards Buda and Vienna. In the central part of the fortress, remains of a mosque have also been preserved. Archaeological research was conducted in 1980. Since then, although the fortress in Ram has been relatively well preserved, over the next 40 years it suffered destruction awaiting conservation work.

The fortress was built as a typical artillery fort from rubble on good lime mortar, and bricks were also used for the vaults. It is surrounded by two smaller outer ramparts and a wide dry moat. The moat is crossed by a bridge located near the tower in the southeast corner and serves as the entrance to the space between the fortress and the low rampart around it. The width and thickness of the ramparts vary from 1.87 meters to 3.35 meters, with all ramparts (except the western one facing the Danube) having gun embrasures at equal distances from the towers. In the central part of the fortress, remains of an old mosque have been preserved.

The first more detailed descriptions of Ram fortress were left by the 17th-century Turkish travel writer Evliya Çelebi. During the period of the Kočina Krajina, the fortress was significantly damaged due to an ammunition explosion in 1788, when the Austrian crew led by Baron von Lopreshti, known as the hero of Ram, died. Throughout the 18th century, during the Austro-Turkish wars, Ram again became a strategically important site, but by the mid-19th century, when the Turks left it, it no longer held that status. Ram has all the features of an artillery fortress and in its construction method does not differ significantly from older embodiments of military architecture, although its external wall finishing reflects Byzantine tradition.

In the 4th century AD, it was inhabited by Celts who erected a temple there. According to legend, it was precisely at the site of today’s fortress that they crossed the Danube and continued their journey to Ancient Greece. According to one legend, one of the founders of ancient Rome—Remus, after a quarrel with his brother Romulus, decided with his wife to look for the most romantic place in the world. After a long wandering, they stopped on a hill overlooking the mighty river. There they witnessed the most beautiful sunset, whose colors cast reflections on the river below. Then they decided to settle there, and according to legend, Ram was named after Remus. Undoubtedly, there were Roman fortifications here, which were later captured by Attila the Hun. Over the centuries, the fortress stood between two mighty empires—Austria-Hungary and Turkey—and changed owners countless times. Ram fortress was the guardian of the Danube.

Ram fortress was fully reconstructed in 2019 thanks to cooperation and investments from Serbia and Turkey. The restored fortress was opened by the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić and the Turkish ambassador.

Sources:

https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тврђава_Рам

https://gradskeinfo.rs/nestvarna-mesta-tvrdjava-ram-video-06-07-2023/