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With the advent of the night, the mildly billowy lake surface became completely still. This is when the spawn begin their dance learned long, long ago. On the water’s snaky path, the moonlight reflected on the scales of jumping fish in search of food. The silver brilliance spread out over the lake in flashes. It is this phenomenon that was responsible, the locals say, for the name of this former Danube branch – Srebrno Jezero (Silver Lake).
 The lake is located at an hour and half drive from Belgrade, near the town of Veliko Gradište, a colorful town on the bank of the Danube. In Roman times, Veliko Gradište was an important strategic fortification and was called Pincum. It was named after a river by the name of Pincus (today’s Pek River), and early on became a trade and crafts center and a major river port. It flourished during the time of Emperor Hadrian’s rule in the 2nd century.
The Pek River, whose source is on Mt. Crni Vrh, flows into the Danube at Veliko Gradište on its 124-km long run and is known to carry grains of gold.
 The Danube, deep and mighty, is actually the dividing line between Serbia and Romania on the section from Gradište to Kladovo. Some twenty years ago it was possible to sail from Belgrade to Veliko Gradište by hydrofoil and the journey was a real attraction. The land route is used nowadays.
During daylight the embankment that divides the river and lake waters reveals an incredible, even puzzling, contrast. On the one side one sees a post-cataclysmic sight - from the dark and often choppy waters of the Danube shoot upward the remains of what used to be a forest that was flooded in the course of the Djerdap Dam construction. On the other side, a view is offered of the lazy, nested waters of the 14-km long and some 300-meter wide lake bathing in the sun and surrounded by luscious vegetation. The water pumps built into the embankment pump in fresh water from the river and pump out the stale lake water. Without this, the diversified flora and fauna would not have been as rich.
 Nimble shoots of locust trees sway between the ancient poplar trees, as their glow is reflected on the water surface with a green brilliance of the day. From spring to autumn, thousands of dragonflies perform their love dance above the water’s surface quite unabashed by the presence of swimmers, the hues of green and blue on their bodies gleaming.
The area near Kod Brke (Brka’s) restaurant, famous for its specialties, right next to the embankment and the Srebrno Jezero Hotel is the most developed lake area with luxury villas, boardinghouses, cafes, street shops, tennis courts and a camp area tucked into the poplar tree grove. The whole scene is made complete by the spacious beach swarming with bathers in the summer.
Moving away from the commotion and noise to the other side of the lake, towards Kisiljevo, the lines of trees become thicker. Occasionally, verandas of summer houses can be seen. Along these groups of houses are tiny marinas, most diverse form, dotting nearly the entire left bank.
 These marinas are made from wooden planks, from metal, from bricks or resemble pontoons, and are the main attraction on this lake at which angling is considered more interesting than bathing. This natural fishpond is brimming with different types of freshwater fish, including amur (grass carp), carp, catfish, pikeperch, and many different-type white fish. Guinness World Records has it down that a carp weighing 44 kilograms has been caught here.
Srebrno Jezero also has its ‘lake monster’. Legend has it that deep in the silt and far away from people lives a 200-kilogram catfish whose silhouette can be discerned sometimes from the air. Fishermen’s stories vary and are many, and arms are oftentimes too short to describe the size of the caught fish.
Not far from the lake, near Kisiljevo, one may hear a dark tale. In this particular area, tradition says, is the site of the grave of the oldest Serbian vampire – one Petar Blagojević - who lived in the late 17th century and was written about in the Vienna-based paper called Wienerisches Diarium (today’s Die Wiener Zeitung). Old people claim that his presence is felt to this day. So, whoever so chooses may keep on believing.
In daytime, the lake collects its stories through a symbolic interplay of colors, and when night falls it envelopes itself in a flickering silver and recounts them through occasional splashes.
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This region is very rich in remnants of the past. Not far going upstream and downstream, respectively, from Srebrno Jezero are the fortresses on the Danube: Ram, first mentioned in written records in the early 12th century and Golubac, dating from the first half of the 14th century. Some twenty kilometers from the town called Stari Kostolac is the renowned 1st century AD archaeological site - Viminacium.
A bit farther, near Donji Milanovac, in the Djerdap gorge, is one of the largest Mesolithic and Neolithic archeological finds - Lepenski Vir.
In the Djerdap National Park, which covers nearly 10,000 hectares of protected area, are also such sites as the Roman fortress Diana in Kladovo, the remains of Trajan’s bridge, Tabula Traiana (Trajan’s tablet), Roman limes, different castles as well as preserved examples of Serbian folk architecture. | | 
