7. ANCIENT CITY OF ALMUS

Location: Lom

GPS:

Information: Lom Museum of History

The town emerged in the late 1st-early 2nd century. Almus was the military camping site of detachments of the Legio I Italica and Legio XI Claudia, as well as other troops. Probably it was in the second half of the 2nd century that one of the cus­toms stations of the Empire was deployed there.
In the late 3rd-early 4th century, the cas­tle was reinforced. It is supposed to have operated also as a river port serving both navy and merchant vessels. In the mid- 5th century Almus was captured by the Huns. The castle has the shape of an ir­regular square with an area of 4.1 ha. The eastern wall is 200 m long and 2 m wide, the southern wall is 230 m long and 2.2 m wide, connecting at a right angle with the eastern wall. The western wall is 180 m long, while the northern (eroded by the river and crumbled in places) is 250 m long, with round towers in the corners.
Scholars have studied 90 m from the western wall of the fortress, discovering part of the western fortress gate.
Remains of a ceramic and lead aqueduct have also been found in Almus. Numerous artefacts from Antiquity and the Middle Ages are now stored in the Historical Mu­seum in Lom.
Present-day Lom is situated on top of the ancient city of Almus.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

A Latin inscription from Almus (mid-2nd century), dedicated to the goddess Nemesis, mentions a

beneficiarius consularis who most likely controlled the road station.