17. NIKOPOL FORTRESS

Location: Nikopol

GPS:

Information: Pleven Regional Museum of History

There are remains of fortress walls discovered on a high hill with steep slopes at the northwest corner of the modern-day town. The fortress could be entered through the western gate.
Probably there was a fortress here during the Roman times. Traces of ancient walls were discovered during reconstruction of the so-called “kale” - a fortress from the Ottoman period.
In the mid-1st century a Roman auxiliary cavalry unit (ala Scubulorum) was stationed the vicinity of Nikopol. An interesting epigraphic monu­ment from the ancient period is “Elia’s Fountain”. Fragments from Roman pottery from the 2nd century can be found in many places.
The Nikopol Fortress and the well-protected harbour had strategic importance in the Middle Ages and during the Ottoman Empire. The fortress walls and the so-called “Shishman’s Gate” have been pre­served to date.