Bulgaria - Ancient City of Nessebar

Ancient City of Nessebar (1983)
Bulgaria

Situated on a rocky peninsula on the Black Sea, the more than 3,000-year-old site of Nessebar was originally a Thracian settlement (Menebria). At the beginning of the 6th century B.C., the city became a Greek colony.

Bulgaria 1967. Nessebar. Byzantine Pantocrator Church.

The city's remains, which date mostly from the Hellenistic period, include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, an agora and a wall from the Thracian fortifications. Among other monuments, the Stara Mitropolia Basilica and the fortress date from the Middle Ages, when this was one of the most important Byzantine towns on the west coast of the Black Sea.

Wooden houses built in the 19th century are typical of the Black Sea architecture of the period.

Bulgaria 1967. Nessebar. Byzantine Pantocrator Church.

Bulgaria 1966. Church of John the Baptist, Nessebar.

Bulgaria 1966. Icon of the Mother of God, Nessebar, created 1342.

Bulgaria 1985. Church of St. John the Baptist (10-11 century), issued at the occasion of the 40th anniversary of UNESCO.

Bulgaria 1997. Ancient City of Nessebar.

Bulgaria 1966. Church of St. John the Baptist, Nessebar.
Bulgaria 1966. Icon of the Mother of God, Nessebar, created 1342.
Bulgaria 1985. Church of St. John the Baptist (10-11 century), issued at the occasion of the 40th anniversary of UNESCO.
Bulgaria 1997. Ancient City of Nessebar.

Nessebur is located on a small peninsula, and was originally colonized by Greek seafarers and traders about 600 B.C. The city still has a Greek appearance. Even when the rest of Bulgaria fell to the Turks in 1393, the suppressors only got control of the city some hundred years later. During 500 years of Turkish suppression the city maintained a large degree of freedom, thanks to the Greeks' good trades with the peoples of the Mediterranean.

Sources and links:

Bulgaria - The Rough Guide. ISBN 1-85828-183-0

Many thanks to Miomir Zivkovic (Serbia & Montenegro) for all help and support.

Other World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria (on this site). Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, Bulgaria-section, for further information about the individual properties.

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