This is the classical city of Nicopolis. We didn't even know this place existed until we drove past it. The name means Victorious city. That's abut all I know.
Well all right, I know a little more. This city was founded by Octavian after the battle of Actium. He was using the town here as a base which must have given him a good place to operate out of. Actium itself is only about five miles south of here. I don't know if the city were fortified or not then, but since Actium itself had walls I wouldn't be surprised if Nicopolis did too.
The walls are early Byzantine in origin. You can see the Roman influence by the layering of different types of stone. Roman walls (or at least city walls) tend to have these red stripes running through them. The walls you see here were built sometime in the 5th or 6th Centuries AD after the city was sacked by the Vandals.
No comments:
Post a Comment