Ancient Thracian and Roman city Ulpia Oescus , Bulgaria

This important Roman settlement in the Pleven District, once part of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior, was built near the confluence of the rivers Iskar and Danube, not far from an old Thracian village. Today, the Iskar is 300 metres away from the archaeological site, its confluence with the Danube 5 kilometres further due to the boggy ground that had caused the Danube to change its direction in recent centuries.

The first buildings were erected during the campaign of Emperor Trajan (106–109 AD), on the ruins of the former permanent camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion (10 AD). Outside the ruins of the Roman city walls, there are still visible remains of the defence wall of the legion’s camp, made of soil and stone (71–101 AD). After 271 AD, the legion returned to this place and built a second fortified city system (Oescus II).

In 167 AD, Oescus upgraded to a colonial city and got a new name, Colonia Ulpia Oescensium (“Ulpia” after Trajan’s middle name, Ulpius). Its citizens were mostly retired legionnaires. There were 150 Roman colonial cities, but this one was special because it was granted all Roman rights. It protected the Danube Limes road and was an important military road to the modern-day Plovdiv (Hellenic Philippopolis, Latin Trimontium) because it passed by the road station and, later, the mighty Storgosia fortress (in today’s Pleven).

Still visible today, the majestic ruins of the city that covered 280,000 m² indicate the wealth of the Antonine and Severan dynasties. Near the entrance area, one can admire administrative buildings and a perfectly reconstructed Roman well in front of a big complex of public baths. Archaeological excavations started in 1904–1905. Later campaigns identified three public baths (thermae) and brought to daylight a perfectly preserved road from bath I to the remarkable Temple of Fortuna. Along the road there used to be shops until the 6^th century. 

The Temple of Fortuna, built in 190–191 AD, was dedicated to the protector of the city, the Goddess of Fortuna. Her statue is now exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. Just across the road, the famous mosaic The Achaeans (3^rd century AD) was discovered in 1948. It is now exhibited in the Regional Historical Museum in Pleven, with other artefacts from Oescus and Storgosia.

The forum is dominated by the Temple of Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) and a basilica. Further on, the public buildings of Oescus II were built. This area will be the focus of the 2013–2020 excavation campaign. The plan is also to fully reconstruct the buildings of Oescus I to give visitors a complete impression of this ancient Roman commercial, cultural and military centre. On 5 July 328 AD, Emperor Constantine I personally opened Constantines’s Bridge, the biggest and most famous stone bridge on the Danube. Today, its ruins can be seen only on the northern bank of the Danube, in Celei, once Roman fortress Sucidava, in Romania.

The bridge was in use only for a short period and then dismantled before the invasions of the Goths in 376–378 AD. In 411 AD, the Huns destroyed Oescus. Emperor Justinian I tried to re-establish Oescus as the stronghold of the Danube defence system, but all the efforts were stopped in late 585 and early 586 AD by the Avars. Another attempt at settling here was a Bulgarian village, built on the Roman ruins (10^th–14^th century), before Oescus finally vanished and became history.

Photos source:

http://dunavultra.com/

The Sunken City of Baia , Italy

A submerged archaeological park still holds the wonders of a Roman Sodom. 

In its heyday, the Classical Roman city of Baia was the hedonist Las Vegas of the time, but now its remains are partying beneath the waves.

A prominent resort city for centuries, Baia catered to the recreational whims of the rich and powerful among the Roman elite. The city, which was located over natural volcanic vents, was famous for its healing medicinal hot springs which occurred all around the city and were quite easy to build spas over. Some of antiquity’s most powerful figures such as Nero, Cicero, and Caesar were known to have visited the city and a number of them actually built permanent vacation villas there. 

City was sacked by Saracens in the 8th century. By 1500, the remains of the formerly luxurious town were abandoned. After the city remains were emptied, the water level slowly rose due to the same volcanic vents that were once a draw to the area, and most of the ancient ruins were drowned under the shallow waters of the bay.

Today the ancient remains of Baia can be visited in one of the world’s few underwater archeological parks. Visitors can view the crumbled structures and amazingly preserved statuary of the city through glass-bottomed boats, snorkeling, or even scuba dives which allow people to actually swim amongst the copious ruins. While the city is no longer a resort, its waters still hold wonders. 

Tipasa,Algeria

Phoenician merchants established Tipasa on Algeria's western Mediterranean coast in the sixth century B.C., but the city did not reach its apex until the second and first centuries B.C. When it was annexed to the Roman Empire in A.D. 40, Emperor Claudius granted residents Jus Latii (rights of fellow Roman citizens).

Over the centuries, Tipasa ruled by Berbers and Vandals and was abandoned in the sixth century after a brief revival under the Byzantines. Archaeologists rediscovered the site in 1856 and excavations have been continuous. Remains have been unearthed on both sides of a Roman wall, including one of the most important paleo-Christian cemeteries in North Africa, an amphitheater, temples, forum, fourth-century basilica, baths, and mosaic works.

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