
View of the Danube at Nikopol in winter
'Nikopol' () is a town in northern
Bulgaria, part of
Pleven Province, on the right bank of the
Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the
Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley.
In
Roman times, it was a village in the province of
Moesia, first mentioned in 169. After the decline of the
Roman Empire, the town turned out to be located at the northern border of the
Byzantine Empire. In 1059, it was named ''Nikopolis'',
Greek for "City of Victory". In one of the last stands of the Bulgarian Tsar
Ivan Shishman, the town was conquered by the Ottomans in 1393. It was the site of the
Battle of Nicopolis, both the largest and last large-scale
crusade of the
Middle Ages, in 1396. Under
Ottoman rule, Nikopol developed into an important military and administrative centre, with a strong fortress and a flourishing economic, spiritual and political life, until it went into a decline during the 17th and 18th centuries. Nikopol was liberated by the Russians in the
Battle of Nikopol in 1877.
It presently has a population of 4,976. It is the seat of the Nikopol municipality and provides services to the local villages. A landing for a car ferry is under construction which will connect the town with
Turnu Măgurele on the opposite side of the Danube in
Romania.
Nikopol was partially flooded by the Danube during the
2006 European floods.
Sister city
'
Shakhty',
Russia
External links
★ http://get.info.bg/visit/Dir.asp?d=0-13-Pleven-Nikopol
★ http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/N/NikopB1ul.asp
★ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4917820.stm#map