City
Ad Novas
Svishtov · Swischtow · Свищов
Listen to the story
In AD 487, according to the chronicler Marcellinus Comes, Ad Novas was the seat of the Gothic king Theoderic, later ruler of Italy. Long before that it was home to the First Italian Legion, whose presence is attested by inscriptions. The ruins lie at Steklen, just outside Svishtov on the Bulgarian bank of the Danube. The name simply means 'at Novae', a town whose name comes from the Latin word for new, and a Roman register of routes lists it as Novas. The Tabula marks it with the familiar pair of towers.