Photo credit: (c) mehedinti.djc.ro

The water tower was built between 1910 and 1914, and arguments for its construction had already become evident in 1890, when the local government started identifying groundwater sources in the northeast of the present day locality. Since the geothermal studies indicated an insufficient water flow, the system of water intake wells kept running with wind-powered pumps was given up and the decision was made to supply the drinking water network from the Danube River.

Drobeta Turnu Severin mayor Constantin Gheorghe says that the tower was not randomly placed, “but was established at the highest point of the town, at an elevation of 104 m. It was built of reinforced concrete, in medieval style, after the plans of Craiova-born engineer Elie Radu. It is 27 meters high, measures about 10 meters in diameter and has four turrets at the top, which served as lookout points for the firemen and also for the army during World War II.

“Two water tanks with a total capacity of 1,025 cubic meters were incorporated in the castle. Due to financial problems, the outer finishing of the building was not completed and it stayed like this until 2012,” Mayor Constantin Gherghe told AGERPRES.

 Time rolled over the majestic water tower too, just like for all the other historic monuments of the city. After having heroically survived 11 bomb attacks by the Germans and the Soviets during WW II, under the communist regime it was several times in danger of being demolished. But it braved the looming threats to bear testimony to the young generations that daring projects and brilliant minds capable of dreaming high have always existed.

“For almost 50 years, the water tower, or the ‘Eiffel Tower’ as it was called in local folklore, was abandoned. In 2009, writers Ileana Roman and Florin Grigore, who are offspring of the town, came up with a downright brilliant idea: turn it into an arts castle. That’s how we got to carry out a European project in partnership with a municipality from Serbia, for its transformation into a cultural and tourist product,” Gherghe recalls.

The rehabilitation works took almost one year and cost nearly one million euros; 90 percent of the amount is EU non-reimbursable funding.

“The building’s outside was finished, a lift was also installed. We organised permanent exhibitions on the three floors of the tower and there’s a literary café on top of it, right under the roof. Now dubbed the Arts Castle, the tallest building in Drobeta Turnu Severin is visited daily by nearly 300 tourists, eager to soak up the panoramic view,” Gherghe relates.

The former water tower has now become a symbol, it features on all tourist maps and guides: “the most beautiful picture of it was taken at night, when time seems to let its wings of light down over the fantasy world Drobeta was blessed with following its inclusion in the international tourist circuit.”AGERPRES