Novae, the Roman Legionary Fortress and Town Beside the Danube
Novae was a Roman legionary fortress on the southern bank of the Danube, about 4 km east of Svishtov in northern Bulgaria. Part of the frontier line known as the limes Moesiae, it later grew into a town and bishopric. It is one of the few fortresses along the limes that have been excavated and opened to visitors, which makes it a rewarding detour on the Danube.
Roman soldiers here were treated in a purpose-built hospital whose walls still rise to window height. The fortress later turned into a bishop's town, and its fields are still called “Monuments”.
The history of Novae
After Augustus made himself sole ruler in 30 BCE, Rome set about moving its south-eastern European frontier from Macedonia to the line of the Danube, a great river highway for supplying the armies in the region. Marcus Licinius Crassus campaigned against the Moesi, and the region became the province of Moesia around 6 CE. Around 45 CE Legio VIII Augusta, which had helped to suppress the Thracian uprising, founded a fortress at Novae. The site controlled a river crossing and the stretch of the Danube from the mouth of the Osum to that of the Yantra.
After the death of Nero, Emperor Vespasian reshuffled the legions, and in 69–70 CE Legio I Italica replaced the eighth. It stayed at Novae until at least the 430s. In 86 CE the province was divided, and Novae, together with Durostorum, became one of two legionary bases in Moesia Inferior. The legion was followed by craftsmen, traders and other camp followers, who created a civilian settlement, the canabae, beside the fortress; another settlement, Ostrite Mogili, arose about 3 km to the east. Until the Flavian period the walls were of earth and timber; during Trajan’s campaigns they were rebuilt in stone, up to 3 m thick, with square towers. At the same time a monumental headquarters building, the principia, with a new basilica, and a hospital, the valetudinarium, were built on the site of the earlier Flavian baths. Novae did best under the Severan dynasty.
In 250 the Gothic king Cniva attacked Novae. The fortress itself escaped damage, but the civilian settlements around it were destroyed, and in the second half of the third century it was repeatedly attacked. From the fourth century the legion was split into detachments holding small forts, and civil buildings began to make up most of the interior. New streets were paved with reused stone, often bearing inscriptions, and many glass workshops were set up in and around the town. An area of 8 hectares east of the legionary base was enclosed by new walls. The last evidence for the legion is a series of inscriptions from 430, 431 and 432.
In the late fifth and sixth centuries Novae was the seat of a bishop. The cathedral and the buildings around it were built over the legionary barracks, west of the old headquarters. The last period of prosperity came under Justinian (527–565), when the walls were rebuilt and strengthened, but attacks by Slavs and Avars finally ended the life of the ancient town. In the ninth to eleventh centuries a church and a cemetery still stood in the western part. The town also gave the Orthodox world a saint: Lupus, a slave of St Demetrius, who was martyred by beheading.
Modern research began in the nineteenth century and gathered pace after 1960, when expeditions from Polish universities started systematic work. Recent excavations have revealed the via principalis and other buildings, and in 2018 possible burials of Roman soldiers were found near the site.
Curious facts about Novae
- The valetudinarium, built where the earlier baths had stood, is described as the best-preserved legionary hospital in the Roman Empire, with some wall fragments still rising to the height of the window niches.
- The hospital rooms were grouped in threes around a courtyard, and a small shrine to the healing deities stood in its middle, with an altar to Asclepius dedicated by the entire legion.
- The locality is called Pametnicite, meaning “the monuments”, and earlier was known as Stuklen, from the Bulgarian word for glass, after the many ancient glass fragments found there.
- Three aqueducts supplied the fortress, baths and town, and one of them was at least 9 km long.
- A military amphitheatre is thought to have stood on the north-east side of the camp, and the area south-east and east of the fortress was a large cemetery, recently excavated.
- Finds from the site include a bronze panther, a bronze head of a boy and a marble head of the healing god Asclepius.
Tours near Novae
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting Novae: what to see
- The legionary fortress covers about 18 hectares on a slope above the Danube, and mainly its central part has been excavated and restored.
- Look for the headquarters building with its basilica and the foundations of the legionary hospital with its courtyard.
- The remains of the late antique episcopal complex, built over the old barracks, show how the military base became a Christian town.
- Allow time to walk on the terraces: the slope gives views over the layout of the camp.
- Svishtov, 4 km away, is the nearest town; check the current opening hours and access conditions before you go.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Novae is
Photos of Novae
Questions
What is Novae?
Novae was a Roman legionary fortress on the Danube in northern Bulgaria, later a town and bishopric. It was part of the frontier defences known as the limes Moesiae.
Where is Novae and how far is it from Svishtov?
Novae lies on the southern bank of the Danube, about 4 km east of Svishtov, in the locality of Pametnicite.
Which Roman legions were based at Novae?
Legio VIII Augusta founded the fortress around 45 CE, and from 69–70 CE Legio I Italica was stationed there until at least the 430s.
What is special about Novae?
Its legionary hospital is considered the best-preserved of its kind in the Roman Empire, and it is one of the few fortresses on the Danube limes open to visitors.
How big was the fortress?
The legionary fortress covered about 18 hectares. In the late Roman period the town, with the former base, covered about 26 hectares.
Who studies the site today?
Archaeological expeditions from Polish universities have worked at Novae since 1960, together with Bulgarian archaeologists.
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