14. ROAD STATION AND ANCIENT CASTLE DIMUM

Location:

Belene, the northern part of the town on the banks of the Danube

GPS:

Information: Pleven Regional Museum of History


Dimum Castle dates back to the 1st centu­ry AD, and gradually, from an unfortified settlement, it grew into a fortified border camp. Traces of Thracian tribes inhabiting the area have been found nearby. Dimum was a very important point, which, with the creation of the province of Moesia in the beginning of the 1st century, became a customs station. From here, goods were imported for the Novae camp, luxury goods from distant Roman territories ar­rived, and the wheat from the fruitful Dan­ube plain set off for the rest of the world.
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, a cavalry unit for guarding (cuneus equitum Solensium) was stationed in the castle. After moving the border of the Roman Empire to the right bank of the Danube in 275, Dimum’s important role increased and another four smaller fortifications were built, which gave the name to the entire fortification complex, Quintodimum.
In the Early Byzantine era, Dimum was one of the major urban centres on the Danube and it was the northernmost cus­toms station of the Empire. In the city there are traces of the migration of Slavs, Avars, Goths, of life during the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom and the Otto­man period.
Preserved and showcased are also parts of the western wall, the western tower, a guarding gate, part of the southern wall, the southern tower and monumental building. The western tower was rectan­gular, with an internal dimension of 9.8 to 11.7 m. Its walls were 2.7 m thick, lined with roughly cut stone slabs.
Dimum was declared a monument of na­tional importance in 1968.