The face of the Dacian king Decebal is a 55 m high bas-relief, located on the rocky bank of the Danube, between the towns of Eșelnița and Dubova, near Orșova, Banat, Romania. The sculpture, made by Florin Cotarcea, represents Decebalus, the last king of Dacia.
The sculpture was completed over ten years, with the help of 11 climbers, making it the tallest stone sculpture in Europe and the second in the world. The project was promoted and financed by the businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan between 1994 and 2004.
Decebal's face measures 55 m in height and 25 m in width. The bas-relief is located in the Cazanelor Mici area (Mraconia bay) on the left bank of the Danube, where the river has a depth of approximately 120 meters.
Physical dimensions: the length of the eyes is 4.3 meters, the length of the nose is 7 meters, and the width of the nose is 4 meters. The sculpture was the idea of Iosif Constantin Drăgan and took 10 years to complete at a cost of over a million dollars.
Compared to the sculptures on Mount Rushmore, which took 14 years and involved over 300 workers, Decebal's sculpture was completed in ten years by 12 people, under the direction of Florin Cotarcea, despite the dangers. Access to the sculpture is only by water, and over a ton of dynamite was used to shape the rock.
Work began in the summer of 1994 with tree clearing and rock clearing. The tools were transported by boat and in 40-50 kg bags. The climber-sculptors climbed for half an hour to the scaffold and worked in two 6-hour shifts between March and October.
The sculpture has faced accidents and difficulties, such as a team falling off the scaffolding and being bitten by a viper. The nose of the sculpture was cracked and had to be dynamited and rebuilt with iron reinforcement and cement.
The construction of the image of Decebalus was completed in 2004. In front of the bas-relief, on the Serbian shore, there is an ancient memorial plaque, "Tabula Traiana", erected by the Roman emperor Trajan to mark the march of Roman troops to Dacia and the victories over the Dacians in 105-106. [
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Below Decebalus' head is an inscription in Latin: "DECEBALUS REX - DRAGAN FECIT" ("King Decebalus - made by Dragan"). Iosif Constantin Drăgan wrote numerous books about the history of the Dacians and Thracians and wanted to build a copy of Trajan's Column in Cluj-Napoca, a project that did not materialize.
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The monument to the Dacian king Decebal (87-106 AD) is located in the Cazanelor Mici area, between the villages of Eșelnița and Dubova, on the left bank of the Danube, in the Mraconia Gulf, near the city of Orșova, Mehedinți County.
The sculpture was created between 1994 and 2004, at the initiative and expense of the businessman and historian Iosif Constantin Drăgan (1917-2008), and was executed by a team of 11 climbers under the coordination of the sculptor Florin Cotarcea.
The team of 11 climbers who contributed to this monumental work alongside the sculptor Florin Cotarcea included: Gheorghe Predoni, Ion Predoni, Rudolf Kocic, Petre Negoițescu, Robert Torok, Darian Băleanu, Kiss Cristinel, Pavel Boroancă, Bebe Paștiu, Petre Nițu and Mircea Furlan.
The face of the Dacian king Decebalus, carved directly into the rock, is the largest work of this type in Europe, with dimensions: 55 meters high, 25 meters wide, 4.30 meters wide of the eye sockets, 7 meters long of the nose, 4 meters wide of the nose and approximately 5 meters wide of the mouth.
At the base of the sculpture, in the rock, is the inscription "DECEBALUS REX – DRĂGAN FACIT".
The work is only 60% completed due to the lack of funds necessary for completion, considering that Iosif Constantin Drăgan died in 2008.
