Due to its unique natural features and well-preserved historical monuments from different historical periods, at the 7th session of the World Heritage Committee in Florence in 1983, Old Nessebar became the only Bulgarian city included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Nesebar peninsula - the ancient city of Messambria, called in the late Middle Ages Messemvria and later Nessebar, was inhabited thousands of years ago, at the end of the Bronze Age. The ancient Thracians called it Melsambria, which means "city of Melsa", the legendary founder of the settlement. Messabria has two convenient ports - southern and northern, where to this day there are numerous remains of ancient vessels.
At the end of the 6th century BC, the first Greek settlers arrived - Dorians by origin. The city gradually grew, temples, a school and a theater were built.
Messabria began to mint its own coins around 440 BC, approximately from that time the first gold coins were minted. The city had good trade relations with the polices of the Black and Aegean Seas and the Mediterranean. Finds testifying to the rich economic, cultural and spiritual life of this period are exhibited in the archaeological museum in the city.
In 72 BC the city was captured without any resistance by the Romans. After a short occupation, in the 1st century the city became part of the Roman Empire. Messemvria, as it was then called, with its intact fortress walls and large public buildings, continued to mint its own bronze coins and remained an important commercial and cultural center on the Black Sea coast of Roman Thrace. The city first became part of the Bulgarian state in 812, when Khan Krum stormed and conquered it, and Slavs and Bulgarians settled here. Nesebar, as the Slavs called the city, remained in Bulgarian hands for a long period, during the reign of Tsar Simeon the Great.
After almost 40 years of Byzantine rule, Nesebar again entered the borders of the Bulgarian state in 1304 during the reign of Tsar Theodore Svetoslav. The city experienced great prosperity during the reign of king Ivan Alexander.
In 1366, the city was captured by the knights of Count Amedeo di Savoia and was later ceded to the Byzantine emperor.
The city was attacked by the Turks for the first time in 1396. Its final fall into the hands of the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1453, along with the capital Constantinople.
During the years of Ottoman rule, economic and cultural life did not cease. Churches were built, icons were painted.
The port of Nesebar continues to be the main foreign trade center of the Black Sea. Some of the monasteries and metoses around Nesebar existed until the 18th-19th centuries. Many houses from the Revival period have been preserved - typical representatives of the Black Sea architecture, as well as many windmills, public baths and fountains.
The cultural heritage of Nssebar is preserved in five museum expositions.
The Archaeological Museum presents a rich collection of exhibits from Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
We recommend you visit:
http://www.ancient-nessebar.com - the site of the archaeological museum - Nesebar
http://www.lostbulgaria.com - old photos from Nesebar
At the end of the 6th century BC, the first Greek settlers arrived - Dorians by origin. The city gradually grew, temples, a school and a theater were built.
Messabria began to mint its own coins around 440 BC, approximately from that time the first gold coins were minted. The city had good trade relations with the polices of the Black and Aegean Seas and the Mediterranean. Finds testifying to the rich economic, cultural and spiritual life of this period are exhibited in the archaeological museum in the city.
In 72 BC the city was captured without any resistance by the Romans. After a short occupation, in the 1st century the city became part of the Roman Empire. Messemvria, as it was then called, with its intact fortress walls and large public buildings, continued to mint its own bronze coins and remained an important commercial and cultural center on the Black Sea coast of Roman Thrace. The city first became part of the Bulgarian state in 812, when Khan Krum stormed and conquered it, and Slavs and Bulgarians settled here. Nesebar, as the Slavs called the city, remained in Bulgarian hands for a long period, during the reign of Tsar Simeon the Great.
After almost 40 years of Byzantine rule, Nesebar again entered the borders of the Bulgarian state in 1304 during the reign of Tsar Theodore Svetoslav. The city experienced great prosperity during the reign of king Ivan Alexander.
In 1366, the city was captured by the knights of Count Amedeo di Savoia and was later ceded to the Byzantine emperor.
The city was attacked by the Turks for the first time in 1396. Its final fall into the hands of the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1453, along with the capital Constantinople.
During the years of Ottoman rule, economic and cultural life did not cease. Churches were built, icons were painted.
The port of Nesebar continues to be the main foreign trade center of the Black Sea. Some of the monasteries and metoses around Nesebar existed until the 18th-19th centuries. Many houses from the Revival period have been preserved - typical representatives of the Black Sea architecture, as well as many windmills, public baths and fountains.
The cultural heritage of Nssebar is preserved in five museum expositions.
The Archaeological Museum presents a rich collection of exhibits from Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
We recommend you visit:
http://www.ancient-nessebar.com - the site of the archaeological museum - Nesebar
http://www.lostbulgaria.com - old photos from Nesebar
