Nicopolis

Nicopolis, Greece

The Roman nymphaeum at Nicopolis stands backlit by low sunset light, with long shadows across grass and a lagoon beyond.

Nicopolis is a victory city founded by Octavian, now a quiet spread of Roman and early Christian ruins beside a lagoon in Epirus.

The place

Nicopolis lies on a low, flat promontory in Epirus, in north-western Greece, just north of the town of Preveza. The facts block puts the site only about a metre above sea level, and it feels it: a coastal plain of olive trees, scrub and fallen masonry, with lagoon and sea never far away. This is an archaeological site rather than a living town, and the ruins are scattered across open ground. A visit is a long, slow ramble between separate monuments, not one tidy circuit with a gate and a queue. Expect walls, a theatre-like odeon, baths, a fountain house and the footprints of early Christian basilicas, with the modern village of Smyrtoula nearby. Shade is scarce, signage is modest, and on most days the place is quiet enough that the loudest things are cicadas and goat bells. Behind the coast, Epirus is a mountain region that is among the poorer parts of Greece and has been slow to build tourism away from the beaches. That helps explain the calm. It also means that planning matters: food, water and a car are easier to arrange in Preveza than at the ruins. The monuments reward a patient half day, and the surrounding landscape of water, hills and sky is part of the reading, because the city was chosen for its position above a busy sea route.

Its story

Nicopolis exists because of one sea battle. In 31 BC Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra off Actium, and two years later, in 29 BCE, he founded a new city on the shore opposite, calling it the City of Victory. Naming a city after a triumph was an old habit, practised by Alexander and by Pompey, but here it served several purposes at once. It announced a unified empire under a single ruler, it gave Rome a port and communications hub between its eastern and western halves, and it revived a region still scarred by earlier Roman campaigns. On the hill where his tent had stood, Octavian also raised a sanctuary to Apollo, his patron god, with trophies for Neptune and Mars, decorated with the rams of captured warships. The city prospered on trade and imperial favour, and in the early second century Trajan made it capital of the new province of Epirus. It came through the upheavals of the third century and later served as capital of a smaller province under Diocletian. Bishops appear here from Constantine's time, and basilicas followed once Christianity took hold in the late fourth century. Repeated warfare then wore the city down, and it shrank behind new fortifications before fading out after the eighth century. Alexander Philadelpheus, a Greek archaeologist, was the first to excavate it.

What to see

Culture

Culture around Nicopolis is layered rather than showy. The site was a Roman capital, then a Christian city of basilicas, and it now sits in a region whose everyday life is Greek Orthodox, rural and unhurried. Epirus stayed under Ottoman rule until 1912, and the inland villages, stone bridges and small monasteries carry that long, mixed history. Churches here are working places of worship, not museums, and the calendar of saints' days and village festivals shapes the year more than any tourist season does. Preveza, the nearby town, has the harbour-front café life that Greek coastal towns share, busiest in the evening, when families stroll and coffees stretch into hours. Outside the beach resorts, Epirus sees fewer visitors than much of Greece, so people often have time to chat, and even a few words of Greek, such as kalimera for good morning, are warmly received. Meals are social, built around pies, grilled meat and shared plates, and lingering is normal. The ruins themselves speak of a different kind of statement: a conqueror turning a victory into a city, and a province capital absorbing Greek, Roman and later Christian ways. Local people tend to be proud of this heritage without making a performance of it. Cover your shoulders and knees before entering any church or monastery in Epirus, and keep your voice low and your camera discreet while a service is under way.

What to wear

Nicopolis has no costume of its own to point to, but the dress of the wider region of Epirus is worth knowing about. Traditional mountain clothing was made for cold winters: heavy wool, felted cloaks, embroidered waistcoats and aprons, woven on village looms from local sheep's fleece and finished with hand stitching. Today these outfits mostly appear at festivals, weddings, saints' day gatherings and folk-dance performances rather than daily life. In Roman times, residents of a city like this wore tunics of wool or linen, with the toga kept for formal occasions, and sculpture such as the marble Athena found at the site shows how draped garments were rendered. What people wear now is ordinary and practical: light cotton in summer, jeans and jumpers in winter, and a slightly smarter look for an evening walk along the Preveza waterfront. Older villagers often dress modestly, especially for church. A visitor should plan for sun and uneven ground first. Bring a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and light long sleeves, because the ruins offer little shade. Wear closed, sturdy shoes with grip, since paths run over rough stones and dry grass. Carry a scarf or shawl and wear trousers or a long skirt for churches and monasteries, and pack a waterproof layer for the wetter months.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Nicopolis is best in April and May, when the plain is green and walking is comfortable, and again in September and October, when the heat has eased. July and August are hot with almost no shade on the open ruins, and winter brings rain and fewer seasonal flights.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Aktion National Airport (PVK) near Preveza has seasonal flights from across Europe; the ruins are just north of Preveza, so a taxi or hire car covers the last leg. Ferries from Ancona, Bari, Brindisi and Venice reach Igoumenitsa, from where the A2 motorway and local roads lead south.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources