Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Nikopolis
Summer daily 8am-7.30pm; winter daily 8.30am-3pm • €3 • The site is best visited by car; buses from Préveza pass by the museum, but
there is no regular stop
NIKOPOLIS
(“Victory City”) was founded by Octavian on the site where his army had
camped prior to the Battle of Actium: an ill-considered gesture that made little
geographical sense. The settlement was on unstable ground, water had to be
transported by aqueduct from the distant Loúros springs, and a population had to be
forcibly imported from various towns. However, such a
folie de grandeur
was
understandable. At
Actium
(modern Áktio), Octavian had first blockaded and then
annihilated the combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra, gathered there for the
invasion of Italy. These events culminated in Octavian the general becoming Roman
Emperor Augustus.
The subsequent history of Nikopolis is undistinguished, with much of its population
drifting back to their homes, and the town suffering barbarian sackings as Rome
declined. During the sixth century AD, it flourished briefly as a Byzantine city, but
within four centuries it had vanished from the combined effect of earthquakes and
Bulgar raids.
3
Archeological Museum
Architecturally minimalist, the small museum offers good lighting and informative
labelling for its finds, which include impressive marble carvings, stelae and inscriptions,
as well as mosaics and a variety of pottery. Highlights include a marble relief depicting
an erotic banquet scene and a fourth-century BC seated lion, life-size.
The site
The far-flung monuments begin 8km north of Préveza, on either side of the main road.
The 2220-acre site is really too scattered to tour on foot or by bus; hire a taxi in
Préveza, or come by car.
Nikopolis is bounded on the south by a formidable stretch of sixth-century
Byzantine
walls
, beyond which lie the
Dhométios basilica
(with covered-over
mosaics)
and the Roman
odeion
dating from the original construction of the city,
well restored for use in the local summer festival. From the foundations of the
sixth-century
basilica of Alkýsonos
just north of the main
baths
, it's 2km to the
main
theatre
, west of which you can discern the sunken outline of the
stadium
,
below Smyrtoúna village.
Astakós
ASTAKÓS
(“Lobster”) is a small port on the western mainland with a ferry to Kefaloniá
every weekday lunchtime, plus a Sunday evening departure to Itháki and Kefaloniá.
Despite the name there's no lobster served at any of the mediocre tavernas lining the
quay; around the marketplace many Neoclassical buildings from the 1870s hint a a
more prosperous past.
LH1 ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ASTAKÓS
By bus
The KTEL is at the end of the quay; buses from
Athens should coincide with the ferry.
By ferry
Weekday departures to Kefaloniá at around noon
(Sámi; early May to mid-Sept only), Sun evening to Itháki
and Kefaloniá;
T
26460 38020 for current details.
ACCOMMODATION
Stratos
By the quay
T
26460 41911.
The only hotel,
overlooking the tiny, gravelly town beach, is overpriced; in
peak season cheaper rooms are available elsewhere.
€80
