๐ง๐ฌ Nikopol (ะะธะบะพะฟะพะป) is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Nikopol Municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km (2 miles) downstream from the Danubeโs confluence with the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley.
History 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 Nicopolis, Greek for "City of Victory". During most of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Bulgarian Empire from its foundation in 681. After the fall of Tarnovo in 1393, the last Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman defended what remained of the Empire from the fortress of Nikopol, where he was captured after the town was conquered by the Ottomans in 1395. Nikopol is therefore sometimes considered the capital of Bulgaria during these two years. It was the site of the Battle of Nicopolis, the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, in 1396. At the fortress of Nicopolis, the united armies of Christian Europe headed by Hungarian king Sigismund and various French knights were defeated by the Ottomans under Bayezid I and his Serbian vassal Stefan Lazareviฤ.
Under Ottoman rule, Nikopol developed into an important military and administrative centre as a sanjak, with a strong fortress and a flourishing economic, spiritual and political life, until it went into decline during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the centre of a district (kaza), but it was overtaken by Pleven as the regional centre of that part of the Bulgarian lands. Nikopol was captured by the Russians in the Battle of Nikopol in 1877.
Modern times It is the seat of Nikopol municipality and provides services to the local villages. Nikopol was partially flooded by the Danube during the 2006 European floods, and is currently working on new town infrastructure to manage fluctuations in the Danube River.
The completion of a car ferry in 2010 has linked the town to Turnu Mฤgurele across the Danube in Romania, spurring local development, including the opening of new restaurants and the town's first hotel. Nikopol also serves as a port for tourist boats where visitors stop and have the opportunity to take a bus into the nearby city of Pleven, or spend the afternoon in Nikopol.
The fifth-largest nature park in Bulgaria, Persina Natural Park, lies partially in Nikopol. Persina Natural Park is the only Bulgarian natural park on the Danube River, and contains marshlands, over 200 species of birds, 475 species of plants, and 1,100 species of animals. Based on the importance and uniqueness, Persina Natural Park has been declared a Ramsar site.
Tourist attractions in Nikopol include the ruins of the medieval fortress, the richly decorated 13th- or 14th-century Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the rock-hewn Church of Saint Stephen, the Bulgarian National Revival Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God from 1840, the Elia water fountain with an immured Ancient Roman gravestone featuring an epitaph, and the Vasil Levski museum house.
Nikopol has a population of over 3,629 people. Nikopol also forms part of the wider Pleven metropolitan area which has a population of over 269,752 people. Nikopol is situated near Pleven.
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Nikopol has links with:
๐ญ๐บ Halรกsztelek, Hungary ๐ฎ๐ฑ Safed, Israel ๐ท๐บ Shakhty, Russia ๐ท๐ด Zimnicea, Romania๐ฎ๐น Senigallia 43.717
๐ซ๐ท Cagnes-sur-Mer 43.674
๐บ๐ฆ Kamin-Kashyrskyi 24.95
๐ฌ๐ท Herakleion 25.133
Locations Near: Nikopol 24.9,43.7
๐ง๐ฌ Pleven 24.62,43.408 d: 39.5
๐ง๐ฌ Svishtov 25.346,43.617 d: 37.1
๐ท๐ด Alexandria 25.333,43.983 d: 46.8
๐ท๐ด Slatina 24.35,44.417 d: 91
๐ง๐ฌ Gabrovo 25.317,42.867 d: 98.6
๐ง๐ฌ Veliko Tวrnovo 25.636,43.086 d: 90.6
๐ง๐ฌ Ruse 25.95,43.817 d: 85.3
๐ท๐ด Giurgiu 25.967,43.9 d: 88.4
Antipodal to: Nikopol -155.1,-43.7
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 17059.8
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16893.1
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16423
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16334.5
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12962.5
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12850.6
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12833.8
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12831.5