(Turk. Nikopol, anc. Nicopolis ad Istrum), a town of European Turkey, capital of a pashalic in Bulgaria, stands on the right bank of the Danube, just below its confluence with the Aluta from the N., and the Osma from the S., 80 miles S.W. of Bukharest, and 280 N.W. of Constantinople. It consists of two parts; one of which, inhabited by Mohammedans, and protected by a fortress, stands on a cliff of limestone, several hundred feet high, rising from the river, and surrounded on the other three sides by a ravine. Though provided with heavy pieces of artillery, this castle, being commanded by the surrounding heights, is of very little importance as a defence. The Mussulman town is further defended by ramparts and batteries; and though generally ill built, it presents a fine appearance, with the many glittering minarets of its handsome mosques. On the slopes which rise beyond the ravine, stand groups of white houses, forming the other part of the town, and occupied by Bulgarians, Wallachians, and Jews. The surrounding country is very beautiful, and much of it is laid out in gardens. Owing to its convenient situation on the Danube, Nicopolis is a place of some commercial activity. It was originally founded by Trajan, of whose fortifications some remains still exist; and it is remarkable as the place where the Sultan Bayezid I defeated Sigismund, King of Hungary, in 1396. It has since that time been repeatedly injured by the Russians. Pop. about 10,000.

"The City of Victory," a town of ancient Greece, stood on the promontory of Epirus, on the low isthmus which separates the Ionian Sea from the Ambracian Sinus (Gulf of Arta). It was erected by Augustus in 31 B.C. to perpetuate the fame of the victory which he had gained at the neighbouring headland of Actium. Special care was taken to render it worthy of its imperial founder. A large population was drawn within its walls from the adjacent cities; it was admitted into the Amphictyonic Council; the privileges of a Roman colony were conferred upon it; and it became the scene of a quinquennial festival, called Aetia, in honour of the above-mentioned battle. Under the successors of Augustus, Nicopolis continued to be the capital of Epirus. It was, however, gradually sinking into decay; and during the dark ages its dilapidated buildings were finally abandoned. About three miles north of the modern town of Prevesa, a line of ruins, stretching across the isthmus, and containing the remains of a larger and a smaller theatre, a palace, a stadium, and an aqueduct, still indicates the site of the ancient city of Nicopolis.