Ratiaria and Bononia, Private Guided Tour by Car

In the steps of the Romans Let me show you some artifacts, as well as the Roman excavations at the places of my life. I was born in the present Archar, atop Ratiaria, as my whole childhood was spent in the near village where the Roman aristocrats used to make their luxury villas. I remember the awful feeling at the English language school in Vidin/once Bononia/ when asked by the teacher where I was born, I felt so miserable to name the village of Archar, when the others proudly were saying "The town of Vidin". But I still didn't know that. . . Many Roman patricians lived in Ratiaria, named Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria after its founder the Emperor Trajan, while the nearby Bononia (today's Vidin) was the home only of a small military unit. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries Ratiaria became an important trade centre and a port. Today, modern scanners have shown that underground, next to the village of Archar, an ancient town is buried, times more and much better preserved in comparison of Pompeii.

The Port/ The Hotel/ - Drive to the village of Archar, to the Excavation Sites of Ratiaria: see the western gate of the city, some walls and part of the Roman Thermae - Drive few miles for a short break and refreshment with a nice view to the Danube River, try some local cookies and drinks - Drive back to town of Vidin - Stop at The Archeological Museum, Vidin, to take pictures of some richly ornamented sarcophaguses from Ratiaria - Inside visit of the Roman part of the Archeological and The Epigraphic Museum, to see the Roman statues, sculptures, architectural fragments and colorful mosaics - Visit to Baba Vida Castle, Appreciate from outside the only preserved Bulgarian medieval fortified later by the Ottomans Castle and then visit from inside to take a photo of the well preserved two layers of the Roman fortress Bononia. - Finish at the Port/The Hotel/ Feel free to contact me if you would like to customize this tour!