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Nikyup to organize ancient roman festival at Nicopolis ad Istrum

Monday, Mar 28, 2016

The once glorious Ancient Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum situated near the town of Veliko Tarnovo in Central North Bulgaria is going to have its own festival with historical reenactments.

The first edition of the Roman festival of Nicopolis ad Istrum is going to take place in August 2016, Yordanka Atanasova, Mayor of the small town of Nikyup which is the modern-day successor of the ancient city, reports local newspaper Yantra Dnes.

The event is being organized by the town hall of Nikyup and the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History, and will feature gladiator fights, fights between Romans and Dacians, a slave market, coin minting, presentation of Roman clothes and ancient cuisine.

Probably the largest and most successful Ancient Roman festival in today’s Bulgaria has been the “Eagle on the Danube" Festival based in another major Roman city in Northern Bulgaria – Novae, which is located near the Danube town of Svishtov.
Other ancient cities where historical reenactments and festivals have been organized recently include Sexaginta Prista in today’s Danube city of Ruse, and the Ancient Thracian and later Roman city of Kabile near the city of Yambol in Southern Bulgaria.

The ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum, whose name means “Victory City on the Danube River", are located near today’s village of Nikyup, Veliko Tarnovo Municipality, 18 km northwest of the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It was founded by Roman Emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus) (r. 98-117 AD) to honor his victories over the Dacian tribes between 101 and 106 AD (most probably in 102 AD) at the intersection of the two main roads of the Danubian Roman provinces – the road from Odessus (Odessos) on the Black Sea (today’s Varna) to the western parts of the Balkan Peninsula, and the road from the Roman military camp Novae (today’s Svishtov) on the Danube to the southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula.
Nicopolis ad Istrum is sometimes described as the birthplace of Germanic literary tradition because in the 4th century AD Gothic bishop Ulfilas (Wulfila) (ca. 311-383 AD) received permission from Roman Emperor Constantius II (r. 324-361 AD) to settle with his flock of Christian converts near Nicopolis ad Istrum in the province of Moesia, in 347-8 AD. There Ulfilas invented the Gothic alphabet and translated the Bible from Greek into Gothic.

The Ancient Roman city was destroyed in 447 AD by the barbarian forces of Attila the Hun, even though it might have been abandoned by its residents even before that. It was partly rebuilt as a fortified post of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) in the 6th century AD which in turn was destroyed at the end of the 6th century AD by an Avar invasion. Later, it was settled as a medieval city in the Bulgarian Empire between the 10th and the 14th century.

The Nikyup Mayor says the organization of the Ancient Roman festival of Nicopolis ad Istrum will cost about BGN 10,000 (app. EUR 5,000), and that 60% of the funding is expected to be contributed by the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo.
The village of Nikyup and lead archaeologist Pavlina Vladkova recently issued a call for volunteers to aid with the 2016 summer digs of one of the most glorious Ancient Roman cities in Southeast Europe.

About 50 volunteers from Bulgaria, Serbia, the UK, and the Netherlands, have already signed up to donate their labor during the 2016 summer archaeological excavations but more are invited to join in.

Anyone seeking to join the 2016 summer excavations of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Central North Bulgaria as a volunteer should email lead archaeologist Assoc. Prof. Pavlina Vladkova, who is in charge of the applicants’ selection, at pavlina_v[@]hotmail.com by the end of May 2016!

In the summer of 2015, the archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a huge Antiquity building which was probably the residence of the agoranomus / curule aedile, a public officer in charge of trade and market operations in Ancient Greek and Roman cities.

The new Ancient Roman festival is supposed to take place after the start of the 2016 regular archaeological excavations of the Roman city.

“We decided to organize this one-day Roman festival in order to diversify the archaeological work, and to provide entertainment for the volunteers," Atanasova says.

A day before the actual festival, the reenactors and the other participants are going to parade in the town of Veliko Tarnovo, a major hub for cultural tourism, which is expected to attract more visitors for the event at Nicopolis ad Istrum.

The Mayor adds that the village of Nikyup is already famous for its water melon festival, and may now also become famous for new its Ancient Roman reenactment event.

Meanwhile, the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History has organized a new exhibit on Nicopolis ad Istrum showcasing also a famous bronze head sculpture of Roman Emperor Gordian III (r. 238-244 AD) which has been subjected to the ancient custom of damnatio memoriae (“condemnation of memory").
Unfortunately, the Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum remains a largely unknown destination for cultural tourism. Recent data has shown that in 2015, it was visited by fewer than 4,000 tourists, a number which is nonetheless an increase compared with previous years.

The archaeological exploration of Nicopolis ad Istrum first started in 1900, while the presently ongoing excavation efforts were restarted in 2007.

Source: archaeologyinbulgaria.com