Three thousand kilometers of the Danube, the second longest river in the Old World, represents three thousand years of human history. The river movement from the German source to the Ukrainian-Romanian mouth through the territories of Austria and Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria is a journey into the past of powerful empires and into the present of the new Europe. At all times, the Danube has inspired military leaders and politicians, poets and artists, composers and sculptors to exploits and accomplishments. Today's trips along the Danube confirm: this river marks the most important political and cultural arc of the Old World, a zone of rivalry and cooperation of peoples, an area of interpenetration of their languages and customs. The Danube was and remains for man and humanity - a path, a goal, a shore, a frontier, a dream. As the poet said, in the Danube waters “both joy and sadness are melted.” But what is more important: to build a fortress near the river or to throw a bridge across it? A. Shary’s work has no analogues in Russian literature. In terms of the scope of historical, cultural, and geographical material, the courage of thought and the grace of text processing, this interdisciplinary study confidently competes with the best European examples of the “Danube genre”. The author shares his unique experience of studying the mythology of the Danube and his impressions of traveling along the great river. A separate chapter of the book is devoted to the role of the Danube in the history of Russia.