Skip to content
Menu
Landmark2nd – 7th c. ADTicketed

Nicopolis ad Istrum

Ulpia Nicopolis ad Istrum, Никополис ад Иструм

city · Veliko Tarnovo Province, Bulgaria

What it is
Nicopolis ad Istrum is the Roman city Trajan founded to celebrate his victory over the Dacians, 20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo, and its excavated centre — paved streets, the agora with its colonnade, a small theatre and the council house — is open to visitors as an archaeological reserve (the museum; bg.wikipedia).
What you’ll see
You walk the city's streets, paved with huge stone blocks, with their pavements and the central drain and its inspection shafts still in place.
Worth the trip?
Yes. It is a Roman town plan you can walk through, with its streets and drains, its square and its public buildings, and it has been on UNESCO's Tentative List since 1984 (en.wikipedia).
Getting there & cost
The ruins lie 18–20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo, by the road to Ruse and 3 km south-east of the village of Nikyup, on the left bank of the Rositsa just after the bridge (bg.wikipedia; the museum).Ticketed · €5.11 · checked 1 October 2026Hours, tickets and parking
A broad excavated area of low stone walls and fallen blocks in long green grass, with several standing white columns and a tall fragment of wall on the right, trees behind, under a blue sky with white clouds and a visitor walking among the ruins.
The centre of the city, with re-erected columns. · Photo: Nk · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A tall, weathered stone pedestal with a moulded top and base, its face cut with about fifteen lines of Greek capital letters, standing among ruins under a cloudy sky.
A statue base inscribed in Greek, the city's official language. · Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis from Santorini, Greece · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A re-erected marble doorframe standing alone in a low wall of brick and stone, with a stone-paved street in the foreground and greenery beyond.
A marble doorway re-erected beside a paved street. · Photo: Mme grizazueva · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What is there today

You walk the city’s streets, paved with huge stone blocks, with their pavements and the central drain and its inspection shafts still in place. Around them are the remains of the odeon, a small theatre for up to 400 people; the agora, the main square, with remains of the colonnade that surrounded it; the buildings round the square, including the council house; a street latrine; part of a large public bath; and two of the city’s gates (bg.wikipedia). The Ionic frieze of the agora is richly carved, and the city has the only columns of heart-shaped section found in Bulgaria (bg.wikipedia). Several ancient wells survive, one of them open and 16 m deep (bg.wikipedia; the museum).

The reserve has decking paths and is accessible to visitors with disabilities, with an electric vehicle (the museum). A statue of Asclepius found here, recovered from treasure hunters, is in the historical museum in Veliko Tarnovo (bg.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

Yes. It is a Roman town plan you can walk through, with its streets and drains, its square and its public buildings, and it has been on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 1984 (en.wikipedia). The remains stand mostly at foundation level, with a few re-erected columns and doorways, and the site is out in open country, so bring water and dress for the heat in summer, as the museum itself advises.

Getting there

The ruins lie 18–20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo, by the road to Ruse and 3 km south-east of the village of Nikyup, on the left bank of the Rositsa just after the bridge (bg.wikipedia; the museum). No bus stop is mapped nearby (OpenStreetMap), so you will need a car.

From April to September it is open daily, 09.00 to 18.00 (last entry 17.00); in October, 09.00 to 17.00; and from November to March, 09.00 to 16.30. In the winter of 2025–26, from 1 December to 20 March, visits were by appointment only, on 0885 144 304. A ticket is €5.11, or €2.56 for students and Bulgarian citizens over 60; a guided talk in English or another foreign language costs €20.45 (the Regional Historical Museum, Veliko Tarnovo, read 1 October 2026).

Visiting details

Opening hours
Daily 09.00–18.00 from April to September (last entry 17.00), 09.00–17.00 in October (last entry 16.00) and 09.00–16.30 from November to March (last entry 15.30). In the winter of 2025–26, from 1 December to 20 March, visits were by appointment only, on 0885 144 304.
Tickets
€5.11; €2.56 for students and for Bulgarian citizens over 60; €7.67 for parents with up to three children aged 7–18. A guided talk costs €10.23 in Bulgarian, €15.34 with interpreting and €20.45 in a foreign language.

Before you go

  • The old streets have hollows and open shafts, and an exposed well is 16 m deep; keep to the decking paths and do not walk on the walls (the museum).
  • No bus stop is mapped near the site; you will need a car.

Hours and prices checked 1 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.

History

Trajan founded the city, named Ulpia Nicopolis after his family name, in honour of his victory over the Dacians; bg.wikipedia gives 102, en.wikipedia “around 102–106”. It stood where two important roads of Lower Moesia crossed: one from Odessos (Varna) through Marcianopolis to Serdica and the western provinces, the other from Novae over the Haemus passes to Byzantion. It belonged at first to the province of Thrace and passed to Lower Moesia at the start of 193. It was run on the model of the cities of Asia Minor, with Greek as its official language, and its mint struck more than 1,000 types of bronze coin (the museum).

The city had no walls until a raid by the Costoboci in 170–171 (en.wikipedia; the museum gives 172); they then rose 8 m high, with towers of 12 m (the museum). It reached its height under Hadrian, the Antonines and the Severans (en.wikipedia). In 250 the emperor Decius defeated the Goths under Cniva nearby (en.wikipedia). In 347–348 the Gothic bishop Wulfila settled near the city with his converts, and there he created the Gothic alphabet and led the translation of the Bible into Gothic (bg.wikipedia). The Huns destroyed the town in 447; a new, much smaller walled town was built against its southern wall in the middle of the 5th century and became a bishopric (en.wikipedia), and it lasted until the Avar and Slav invasions of the 7th century (de.wikipedia).

Nearby

  • Restored low walls of pale squared stone with brick courses, forming rooms and a large rectangular hall across an open site, with a modern glass panel over one part and a line of trees behind.

    Photo: Alexander.D.Hristov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    47 km · fort · Veliko Tarnovo Province

    Novae

    The most complete remains are those of the bishop's complex, 6,500 m² with two churches, houses and service buildings, built from the first quarter of the 5th century on the site of the soldiers' baths, which were destroyed in the Gothic wars of 376–382.

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 216895CC BY
Wikidata Q1987323CC0
Vici.org 2188CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap way/449044282ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — Nicopolis ad IstrumCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (bg) — Никополис ад ИструмCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (de) — Nicopolis ad IstrumCC BY-SA 4.0
Regional Historical Museum, Veliko Tarnovo — Nicopolis ad Istrum archaeological reservelicence not recorded
Regional Historical Museum, Veliko Tarnovo — prices and ticketslicence not recorded