NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg) The town was occupied during the 2nd – 6th centuries AD and during the 10th – 13th centuries. During the excavations conducted in 1980 – 1986 the southern fortification wall was explored. The wall is 200 m long, preserved up to 4 m in height, and has four cylindrical towers and a gate flanked by two square towers. Part of the western fortification wall with a U-like tower and part of the eastern fortification wall with a rectangular tower were discovered. The fortification wall is built in opus mixtum and is 2.40 – 2.80 m wide. Earlier buildings lie under the fortification wall: a building with mosaic floor, baths and a civic building. A house was explored with an inner courtyard with a marble colonnade and portico. A hoard of 137 bronze coins minted by Emperors Anastasius I, Justin I, Justinian I and Justin II was found in the house. The latest coins were minted in AD 574 – 575 and indicate the end of the town due to fire and demolition, probably caused by the attacks of the Slavs in AD 577. In 2007 the civic building, the fortification walls, the baths and the house at the southeastern tower were further explored. The house had been built before the 4th century AD when the latest fortification wall of the town was constructed. Rooms Nos. 2 and 3 situated near the kitchen and another room nearby were explored. A layer with traces of fire was discovered in rooms Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 and in the portico. The portico is 3 m wide with a floor of bricks. Benches constructed of stones and covered with bricks adjoin the walls in rooms Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6. Initially there was an impluvium in the center of the courtyard. The eastern side of the surrounding colonnade is 11 m in length. The details of the colonnade of the peristyle courtyard date to the 5th – 6th century AD. Room No. 6, 5.20 m by 7.90 m in size, was explored.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg) Due to the construction of visitors center, the area around the eastern fortification wall and the rectangular tower was cleaned up. The remains of the destroyed pottery kiln, situated inside the tower and discovered during the excavations carried out in 1980 – 1986, were removed. A brick with an inscription was found.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg) Section of the eastern fortification wall situated to the north from the southeastern corner was discovered. The explorations of rooms built along the fortification wall continued. The finds included Mediaeval and Ottoman pottery, a finger-ring of the 11th – 12th century, a belt buckle and a jewel of the 15th – 16th century. The explorations of the domus continued. It was built in the southeastern corner of the town that was fortified during the 4th century AD and was situated close to the southeastern fortification tower. The northeastern corner of the peristyle court was explored. Two marble columns, a base and a capital were discovered. A Byzantine lead seal of the end of 11th – 12th century, which shows the image of St. John and has an inscription that mentions John and the ranks of vestarchos and notarios, was found. A medical spatula and a coin of Maximinus II were found in a secondary drain that runs through the eastern portico and along a room adjoining the fortification wall. Finds were discovered in a room (probably a storage room) of the domus: two bronze exagia, a colonial bronze coin of Augustus minted in Amphipolis, a colonial bronze coin of Septimius Severus, a coin of Probus, a coin of Maximinus II, a follis of Constantine the Great minted in Heraclea, two other coins of Constantine the Great, a coin of Constantine II minted in Sicily, three other coins of Constantine II, a coin of Constantius II minted in Thessaloniki, a coin of Constans I, a coin of Julian II, a coin of Valentinian I, two coins of Gratian and a coin of Theodosius II. The domus was built probably in the 3rd century AD and in the beginning of the 4th century AD, after a reconstruction it was included within the already fortified urban area. The domus existed without reconstructions until AD 450, judging from a coin of Theodosius II. The next occupation period of the domus was related to the period when the treasure containing coins of Justin II and Sophia was buried in the kitchen. In that period Nicopolis ad Nestum was destroyed.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The earthen embankments along the southern fortification wall with the adjacent thermae and the eastern fortification wall were removed. The eastern fortification wall to the south of the rectangular tower was documented. Remains of an Ottoman farm were documented and the finds included pottery, a jewel and a coin of Sultan Abdülmecid I (1839 – 1861). A sector of the southern fortification wall to the west of the southeastern corner tower was discovered. The northeastern corner and part of the northern wall of Building I situated in the southeastern corner of the town were explored. The finds included building ceramics, a fibula of AD 50 – 150 and a coin of Claudius Gothicus, which indicated that the building existed before the 4th century AD. During the explorations of the peristyle, elements of the colonnade were discovered: columns (one of them intact, 2.10 m in height and 32 cm in diameter), bases (one of them with square bottom 56 cm by 54 cm, 26 cm in height and 47 cm in diameter) and a capital. A base, 70 cm in height and 26 cm in diameter, was found at the side of the covered portico. A drain, diagonally crossing the peristyle and dated to the 4th – 6th centuries AD, judging from coins found during previous excavations, was explored. A Roman colonial bronze coin of the 1st century AD was found under the drain in the covered portico.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) Five sondages were carried out close to the eastern fortification wall, outside the territory of Nicopolis ad Nestum that was fortified in the 4th century AD. River alluvium was documented.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The explorations of the domus continued. It was located in the southeastern corner of the city that was fortified during the 4th century AD. The peristyle domus covered an area of c. 0.1 ha and was built in the 2nd century AD before the fortification wall was constructed. A coin of Demetrius II Nicator and a small gold pectoral were the earliest finds in the excavated sector. The domus had two construction periods. Initially, rooms were built around an inner yard paved with bricks. Ten rooms in the eastern part of the building have been excavated so far. A Roman colonial bronze coin of the 2nd century AD was discovered in a well situated in the center of the yard. A bronze colonial coin of Commodus minted in Pautalia and a coin of Septimius Severus were found in southern Room No. 2. The coins from the first occupation period included mostly coins of Septimius Severus and the later emperors through the 3rd century AD. The finds included pottery, including terra sigillata, and glass vessels of the end of the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. The fortification wall that closed c. 11 ha of the larger city was built in the 4th century AD. In that time, during the second construction period, the floor of the domus was raised by 90 cm and stylobates for the columns surrounding the inner yard were constructed. The colonnade consisted of four rows of four columns, 2.02 – 2.11 m high and 30 cm in diameter, built from each side of the yard. The entrance of the building was moved from the eastern to the northern wall. The domus was destroyed by an earthquake. Coins from the end of the 4th – first half of the 5th centuries AD were found, minted by Arcadius, Honorius, Theodosius II and Marcian. Later on, the site of the domus was used for the construction of a single-apse church that was destroyed by a fire. The finds included fragments from small columns, an architrave, rails, window glass, roof-tiles, eight coins from Justin I to Maurice (emission AD 591 – 592) and a bronze cross from an icon-lamp. The previously accepted date for the destruction of the city was AD 577, but apparently this happened about two decades later, around AD 600. After AD 945, sunken-floored houses were built and midden pits were dug out on the site of the domus. The finds included a Byzantine seal of vestiarios and protonotarios John Panaretos of the 11th century and Byzantine anonymous folles. A pottery kiln of the end of the 12th – beginning of the 13 century was discovered inside the Late Roman rectangular tower on the eastern fortification wall.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) Building I covered an area over 0.1 ha in size and was peristyle. It was located in the southeastern corner of the fortified area of the town and was built before the fortification walls were constructed in the 4th century AD. The building was important, because it was included in the area protected by the new fortification wall. The occupation layers dated to the 2nd – 6th centuries AD, 10th – 13th centuries and 17th – 19th centuries. Three stages of raising the floor level were documented in Room 2 belonging to the southern line of parallel rooms: from the time of Septimius Severus, a floor of bricks with coins of Constantine I and a layer of the end of the 4th – beginning of the 6th centuries AD with a coin of Justinian I minted in AD 531. Fragmentary dolia were discovered in the room. A cross-encolpion, bracelets and finger-rings of the 10th – 11th centuries were found over the debris of Room 7. A coin of Arcadius, two columns and a capital were discovered in the layer with debris and traces of fire of the end of the 4th century AD. A vertical drain was explored on the outer wall of Room 1, connected to a horizontal drain built of bricks and covered with stone slabs, containing fragmentary windows and glass vessels, chains and hooks for lamps and Late Antique sherds. A gold solidus of Maurice and synchronous copper coins were found, dating the destruction of the town during the invasions of Avars and Slavs. A pit was explored in Room 10, containing coins of Justinian I and Justin II. A layer with debris was documented with latest coins of Valentinian I and a construction level was discovered dated by a coin of Probus. Three coins of Philippi of the 1st century BC – 1st century AD were discovered, indicating the occupation of the site before Nicopolis ad Nestum was founded there. A church of the 4th – 6th centuries AD was documented, built over the destroyed western portico of Building I.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The southern half of a peristyle courtyard was explored and five bases of columns were discovered, arranged parallel to the walls of the northern rooms of the thermae. One base from the colonnade was discovered on the eastern side of the courtyard and another one on the western side. The bases were placed over marble ashlars which overlaid the stylobate. The intercolumnar distance was 3.80 – 5.20 m. The columns collapsed to the northeast of the bases, identical to the collapsed columns in Building I, which indicated that the destruction probably occurred during an earthquake. The columns were marble and were of two types: six columns were 3 – 3.15 m high and the rest belonged to the second floor of the portico and were 1.80 – 2.35 m high with Attic bases. The tow-storeyd portico surrounding part of the peristyle courtyard belonged to a building yet unidentified, or was part of the thermae. Judging from the coins, the architectural complex was built in the 3rd century AD. A silver miliarense of Eudocia (AD 423 – 441) minted in Constantinople was found as well. A floor paved with terracotta plates and dated to the Middle Ages was documented close to the western wall of Room 13. Two coins were found there: one of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and an anonymous Byzantine follis of the Class A2 (minted up to AD 1035). Room 13 was explored. A stratum containing mediaeval finds was documented down to 70 – 80 cm in depth. The stratum from 70 – 80 cm down to 1.35 m in depth belonged to the Early Byzantine period and the lowest stratum dated to the 3rd – 4th centuries AD, i.e. the time of the construction of the fortification walls which protected ca. 13 ha from the reduced territory of the Roman town. The finds from Room 13 included a hoard of 12 coins (five of Justin II minted in AD 569 – 570, three of Justinian I minted in AD 553 – 554, one of Justin I, one of Anastasius I Dicorus and two unidentified), coins minted from Constantine the Great (the earliest ones minted in AD 311 – 312 in Heraclea) to Arcadius, a jug, sherds, a reaping hook and a pick-hammer. Traces from fire were discovered on the floor of Tower 7 on the eastern fortification wall and fragmentary dolia, an amphora and 11 coins were found.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) A street paved with slabs was discovered to the east of the southern fortification gate. A mediaeval building was constructed inside the square tower of the Roman gate and an anonymous Byzantine follis of the Class A2 (AD 976 – 1030) was found. Except for the coin of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, all other Byzantine coins discovered in the Mediaeval stratum of the town belonged to Class A2. Coins of the 13th century were found as well: near the eastern tower of the southern fortification gate and between Towers Nos. 1 and 6. Dolia dug out into the floor, an amphora of the 6th century AD and coins of Maurice were discovered in rectangular Tower No. 7 on the eastern fortification wall. Coins of AD 350 – 400 were found under a layer with traces from fire, located in front of the eastern fortification wall. A threshold, a column and an Ionic capital originating from a monumental building were found close to the western fortification wall. Judging from coins found around the thermae, they were constructed in the 3rd century AD. Coins of the 2nd century AD were found under the floor, indicating an earlier occupation of the site. The traces from fire on the floor of the thermae dated to the second half of the 4th – beginning of the 5th centuries AD. Water-conduits and drains were discovered as well. Coins from Constantius II to Honorius, a lead seal, an _exagium_, a fibula, a belt appliqué, sherds and glass fragments were found in front of the eastern entrance of the thermae. A collapsed arch built of bricks was discovered. It had frescoes: red bands and ochre painted on a white background. The northern rooms of the thermae were reused in the Middle Ages. Some reconstructions in the town occurred during the 6th century AD and others during the 10th century. Judging from coins of Maurice, the town was destroyed at the end of the 6th – beginning of the 7th century AD and later on, it was reconstructed at the end of the 10th century.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The explorations of the _domus_ situated in the southeastern corner of the town that was fortified in the 4th century AD continued. The peristyle building covered an area of over 0.1 ha and had an entrance on its eastern façade that was walled during the construction of the fortification wall and another entrance on its northern façade: propylaia built during the reconstruction in the 4th century AD. Five rooms were discovered and thus their total number so far reaches 15. Room 11 was accessible through the portico. Its entrance was 6.20 m wide with a threshold of marble slabs. There were mosaics in four colors on the floor. A floor paved with bricks was constructed during the 6th century AD over a layer of debris, 10 cm thick, situated over the mosaics, and coins of Justin II were found over the floor of bricks. During the 10th century, a sunken-floored house was dug out in the eastern part of the room, dated by anonymous Byzantine folles of the Class A2 (AD 976 – 1035). Part of a church (the apse and the area in front of it) that was built over the _domus_ was discovered between Rooms 13 and 14. A fire was documented dated to the end of the 6th century AD by coins of Maurice. During the 10th century, a house was built there dated by anonymous Byzantine folles of the Class A1 (AD 970 – 976), sherds and jewelry. A dolium, a piece of blue-green glass, coins of Constantine I and Constans and coins of Marcus Aurelius and Julia Moesa at a deeper level were discovered in Room 14. A stratum of the 12th – 13th centuries was documented, containing sherds, including from sgraffito pottery. Five dolia were discovered in Room 12 and small columns, small capitals, bases and pedestals, probably from a second floor, were found. A fire was documented, dated by coins of Justin II. A stratum of the 10th century was discovered, containing coins of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos. During the excavations, 102 coins of the 1st – 6th and the 10th – 12th centuries were found, including coins of Philippi of the 1st century AD, Thessalonica of the 1st – 2nd centuries AD, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Constantine I, Valentinian I and Arcadius. The coins of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos indicated that the town was re-occupied during the first decades of the 10th century, an earlier date than the previously supposed, while the coins of Manuel I Komnenos and Isaac II Angelos indicated the end of the Mediaeval settlement.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The explorations of Building I continued. It was situated in the southeastern corner of the urban area fortified in the 4th century AD, but was built during the 2nd – 3rd century AD. The building measured 32 m by 32 m and consisted of 15 rooms and a church situated around a central atrium. A coin of Constantine II minted in AD 324 – 330 was found in Room 11. Room 12 had two entrances and two benches adjoining the walls. A layer with traces from fire was discovered, containing coins of Constantine the Great, including one posthumous. A layer of debris was situated above, containing roof-tiles, burned wood, bricks and stones. Small columns and Ionic capitals, biforas, bases and a pedestal were discovered on top of it. A bench adjoining the wall and two marble basins were discovered in Room 13. One of the basins had a Greek inscription from Psalm 29 from the Psalter written between two crosses that read: “The voice of the Lord is above the great sea”. A broken marble table, fragments from columns, biforas, bases and capitals were discovered as well. The room probably was a baptistery. Debris of the 6th century AD was documented, containing a glass exagium of two ounces. The coins from the excavations testified that the building was constructed during the 2nd – 3rd century AD and was intensively occupied during the first half of the 4th century AD, later being burned around the middle of the 5th century AD and subsequently destroyed during the 6th century AD. The site was re-occupied during the 10th – 12th centuries. Midden pits with sherds and dugouts were discovered and coins of Nikephoros II Phokas and Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos were found.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The explorations of peristyle Building I continued. It was built during the 2nd – 3rd century AD and was 32 m by 32 m in size, with 16 rooms and an atrium with four porticos and a well. At the end of the 4th century AD significant reconstructions of the building were carried out. Its western part was dismantled and a church with a floor paved with marble slabs was constructed there. The probable baptistery was built over the supposed earlier bath of the building. Dolia and coins of Galerius, Licinius, Crispus, Constantine the Great and Gratian were found beneath the church. At the end of the 6th century AD the building was destroyed by fire. The finds included a marble table, architectural fragments, including from marble altar rail of the second half of the 5th – beginning of the 6th century AD, coins and exagia. Five pits were discovered, containing coins of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and an anonymous Byzantine follis of the Class A3 (AD 1030 – 1035), indicating the reoccupation of the town during the Middle Ages.

NICOPOLIS AD NESTUM (Margarita Vaklinova, Tsvetana Komitova – komitovacvetana4@gmail.com) The explorations continued in the peristyle building situated in the southeastern corner of the fortification of the 4th century AD. Coins were discovered on the site, indicating that during the 3rd century BC – 1st century AD a settlement existed there, preceding the foundation of Nicopolis ad Nestum. The northwestern part of the peristyle building, two rooms on the western side with the narthex of the Early Christian oratorium and Room No. 11 with mosaic floor were excavated. Room No. 11 was situated on the northern side of the building and its wide portal was opened towards the atrium. The floor mosaic measured 5.30 m by c. 7 m. The _tesserae_ were made from white marble, yellow and red sandstone, dark grey shale and light green glass. The frame of the mosaics consisted of rows of ivy tendrils, waving, braided patterns, alternating light and dark stripes. The panel consisted of rows of seven circles and vertical bands with diagonally placed squares between them. The circles were placed within a guilloche network. A flower pattern with a cross was depicted in the center of the circles and a four-leaf pattern in the center of the squares. The mosaic floor is similar to the mosaics in two Early Christian basilicas of the 4th century AD situated in the vicinity of Nicopolis ad Nestum. To the north of the oratorium, the roof that collapsed during a fire and the fallen walls were documented on the stone floor of Room No. 14; dolia, ceramic vessels, small crosses, liturgical objects, coins and several _exagia_ were discovered beneath the debris. Occupation of the 10th – 12th centuries was documented in the southwestern part of the peristyle building. The finds from the excavations included coins of Philippi of the 1st century AD, Theodosius II, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, a gold nomisma of Nikephoros II Phokas and Basil II, anonymous Byzantine folles of the Class A2 (AD 976 – 1035) and A3 (AD 1030 – 1035), a Byzantine lead seal of the 11th century, jewelry, tools, arrowheads.