site.btaStefan Valdobrev and The Usual Suspects Record at Nicopolis ad Istrum for The Acoustics of Bulgaria Project

Stefan Valdobrev and The Usual Suspects recorded part of the music for their patriotic project, The Acoustics of Bulgaria, at the archaeological reserve Nicopolis ad Istrum, near the Veliko Tarnovo village of Nikyup. This was the seventh consecutive stop on their tour around the country.

Valdobrev talked to BTA about his choice of the Roman and Early Byzantine city as one of the sites included in the project.

"The first time I came here was after I had travelled to Rome in Italy. Coming here, I saw exactly the same thing as the Roman Forum - not on the same scale, but I gather that if digging here continues, because I have been told that just 1% has been excavated, it may turn out to be something very similar to the Forum. It reminded me very much of Rome, and the ancient finds in Plovdiv are similar in scope, so this place became very close to me. I approached this place as something undervalued. It is not one of the best known in Bulgaria, but is one of the best preserved."

Valdobrev said he wants authentic places to become part of The Acoustics of Bulgaria: "When you touch it, you realize the stone is 2,000 years old, or the fortress is 1,100 years old - it was not built 15 or 20 years ago just to impress. This is one of the most authentic places in Bulgaria I have ever visited, and I really wanted to capture its energy in the acoustics."

The musicians chose to record in the Odeon, where performances used to take place, and on the long street that thousands of people once walked. At the first location, Stoyan Yankoulov performed, and at the second, Vesselin "Eko" Vesselinov did.

Ivan Tsarov, Director of the Regional History Museum in Veliko Tarnovo, who is one of the main archaeologists working at the site, explained that Nicopolis ad Istrum was founded in 106 AD by the Emperor Trajan in honour of his victory over the Dacians. The city was built on a clear site, which made it possible to apply the Hippodamian system, i.e. the streets were oriented north-south and east-west. Within its fortress walls, the city covered an area of 28 hectares, and probably between 5,000 and 10,000 people lived there. Like every city, it had a forum, with public buildings, residential houses, marketplaces and temples standing around it.

A very interesting building is the thermoperipatos. It is the only one with this name in the entire Roman Empire, and it means a heated building for walks - in other words, a kind of ancient mall.

"The city functioned for around five centuries and came to an end at the close of the 6th century, when the Avars conquered these lands. However, probably in the middle or towards the end of the 5th century, the city administration moved to the hill now called Tsarevets," Tsarov explained. "A new city was founded there, which did not inherit the name Nicopolis, but took the name Zikideva."

Nicopolis ad Istrum had the honour of minting its own coins, and over the 100 years during which the city's mint was active, more than 1,100 types of coins are known to have been produced. Statues, tools and household items have been discovered in the city, but the urban necropolises have not been studied yet. So far, only about 1% of the total area within the fortress walls has been excavated, but it has been established that there were neighbourhoods beyond them. Therefore, it is estimated that the actual area of the city was around 50 hectares.

The recordings for the project The Acoustics of Bulgaria continued in the Church of Saints Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Arbanasi, and will be followed by sessions in the medieval Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Veliko Tarnovo.