Archaeological Museum of Nicopolis

The museum is devoted to Nikopolis, the city Octavian founded after his naval victory at Actium in 31 BC. The Municipality of Preveza sums up its theme as "one naval battle, one city, one empire". All of its exhibits come from Nikopolis. More than 1,100 objects are on show in nine thematic units.

A sloping corridor with a timeline of events up to 31 BC leads into Hall A, "The genesis and course of the city". It follows the foundation of Nikopolis and its life through the Roman and Early Christian periods, using architectural pieces, altars, statues, portraits, coins and pottery. Hall B, "Life in the city", takes you through the harbour, shops, workshops, houses and cemeteries. It shows amphorae, everyday pots, tools, jewellery, toys and grave goods. A last corridor tells the story of a century of excavations at the site.

Highlights include a marble portrait head of General Agrippa and a bust of Augustus found at his Victory Monument in 2003. There is a relief of a couple at a banquet with a small slave holding a jug, a head of Empress Faustina the Younger, and an altar to Empress Sabina, honoured here as the local Artemis Kelkaia. Another highlight is a round pedestal carved with a battle of Amazons, later reused under the pulpit of the Basilica of Alkison.

The present building opened in July 2009. Nikopolis' first museum, set up in a former mosque in Preveza, was bombed in 1940. It was replaced in 1965 by a small museum inside the Byzantine walls.