September 1 - 20, 2010
Trip Highlights:
Meeting Cousins
Historic Bulgaria
Roman Ruins
Byzantine/Turkish
Nature Reserves
Rock Churches
Ethnographic
Monasteries
Fortifications
Palaces
Black Sea Coast
| Bulgaria - Part 0 - Introduction, Portrait & History of Bulgaria
Bulgaria - Part 1 - Rock Curches, Rusenski Lom, Medieval City of Cherven Bulgaria - Part 2 - Nove, Ulpia Eskus, Belogradchik Fortress, Vratsa Bulgaria - Part 3 - Sofia, Balchik Palace, Trigrad, Shiroka Laka, Plovdid Romania - Part 1 - Arges Monastery, Poenari Fortress, Alpine Pass Romania - Part 2 - Sibiu, Fortified Churches of Biertan and Viscri |
| Exploring Bulgaria's Cultural Highlights |
(Image: Wooden houses on Nesebar's peninsula) Nesebar has on several occasions found itself on the frontier of a threatened empire, and as such it is a town with a rich history. The ancient part of the town is situated on a peninsula (previously an island) connected to the mainland by a narrow man-made isthmus, and it bears evidence of occupation by a variety of different civilizations over the course of its existence. Its abundance of historic buildings prompted UNESCO to include Nesebar in its list of World Heritage Sites in 1983
(Image: Ruins of city walls) Name ... Inhabited in the Antiquity by the Thracians and the Ancient Greeks, the original Thracian settlement Menebria was called Mesembria by the Ancient Greeks. Under this name it was still known in the Middle Ages to Bulgarians and Byzantines.
(Image: Causeway to old Nesebar) History ... Originally a Thracian settlement known as Menebria, the town became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading center from then on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol). It remained the only Doric colony along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical Ionic colonies. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC.
(Image: Fortifications at the entrance of Nesebar) The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage. It was one of the most important strongholds of the Byzantine Empire from the 5th century AD onwards, and was fought over by Byzantines and Bulgarians, being captured and incorporated in the lands of the First Bulgarian Empire in 812 by Khan Krum after a two week siege only to be ceded back to Byzantium by Knyaz Boris I in 864 and reconquered by his son Tsar Simeon the Great. During the time of the Second Bulgarian Empire it was also contested by Bulgarian and Byzantine forces and enjoyed particular prosperity under Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371) until it was conquered by Crusaders led by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy in 1366. The Bulgarian version of the name, Nesebar or Mesebar, has been attested since the 11th century.
(Image: Church of Christ Pantocrator (13th century)) Monuments from the Middle Ages include the 5th - 6th century Stara Mitropoliya ("old bishopric"; also St Sophia), a basilica without a transept; the 10th century church of the Virgin; and the 11th century Nova Mitropoliya ("new bishopric"; also St Stephen) which continued to be embellished until the 18th century. In the 13th and 14th century a remarkable series of churches were built: St Theodore, St Paraskeva, St Michael St Gabriel, and St John Aliturgetos.
(Image: Church of St John Aliturgetos (14th century)) The capture of the town by the Turks in 1453 marked the start of its decline, but its architectural heritage remained and was enriched in the 19th century by the construction of wooden houses in style typical for the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast during this period. It was a kaza centre in ?slimye sanjak of Edirne Province before 1878. After the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878, Nesebar became part of the autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia as a kaza centre in Burgaz sanjak until it united with the Principality of Bulgaria in 1886.
(Image: Church of John the Baptist (11th century)) Around the end of the 19th century Nesebar was a small town of Greek fishermen and wine growers, but developed as a key Bulgarian seaside resort since the beginning of the 20th century. After 1925 a new town part was built and the historic Old Town was restored.
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