HISTORY AND CULTURAL-HISTORICAL HERITAGE
The history of Sunny Beach resort is associated with the history of Nessebar, Sveti Vlas and Pomorie – crossing points of many civilizations and ancient cultures. Nessebar is a town with millenia-old history, built upon a small rocky peninsula, Nessebar, at the end of the Bronze Age, and is one of the oldest cities in Europe. The ancient city of Messembria was populated more than three thousand years ago. The city was founded by the ancient Thracians – Messabria. With the arrival of the first Greek settlers the city grew, temples, a school and a theatre were built, and it became a city-state. Later the Romans called it Messembria – an important trading and cultural centre on the Black Sea coast. In 812, the city became part of the Bulgarian state, and the Slavs and Bulgarians called it Nessebar. Through the ages, the city had a few rulers, the knights of count Amedeo di Savoia, was later ceded to the Byzantine emperor, and then conquered by the Turks. The history of Sunny Beach dates back to the Middle Ages when the citizens of the ancient city of Nessebar drew water for their vineyards from the two artesian wells. Sveti Vlas emerged as an ancient settlement with a long and multi-layered history. First known as a Thracian settlement, Larissa, it then took the name of Saint Vlas – known as a patron of merchants, a livestock breeder, and a healer. During the ages, the settlement suffered countless raids from pirates, and it was eventually burned down. Sveti Vlas witnessed historical events from the Hellenistic and the Roman world, many sea and land battles. The Turks called it Kyuchyuk Manastir, and it was documented and registered as Manastir Village. It was recorded with this name by the brothers Schkorpil in their works. It was officially recorded with the name Sveti Vlas in the state registers when Eastern Rumelia was united with the Bulgarian Principality. For ages the local population was predominantly Greek, until later on when Bulgarian families, refugees from the Thessaloniki region, Adrianople etc., were also settled down there. In 2006, the Sveti Vlas village was promoted to the status of a town by a Council of Ministers decree. The Town of Pomorie is located on a narrow rocky peninsula, indented 3.5 km into the Black Sea, 18 km from Sunny Beach. The town was founded by the name Anhialo at the end of the Vth c. BC. A large part of its inhabitants were Thracians. It flourished during Roman rule when the town became a bishopric and minted its own coins. In ancient Anhialo, Christianity came as early as the end of the Ist century AC when it became a church centre. During V-VI century the Anhialo church was proclaimed an archbishopric and Christianity was already the official religion of the Eastern Roman Empire – Byzantium. Anhialo was burned down and ransacked by Goths and Avars, destroyed by fires and natural disasters, so there are few remaining ancient buildings despite its centuries-old history. After the Liberation, Pomorie remained within the borders of Eastern Rumelia until the Unification of Bulgaria in 1885. In 1934 the ancient name of Anhialo was replaced by Pomorie.
Nessebar Municipality – Cultural calendar for 2015
Nessebar Municipality – Project “Faith in Nessebar”
Landmarks and churches in Nessebar
