Nessebar - An ancient town in Bulgaria
NESSEBAR
The town of Nesebar is one of the oldest
towns in Europe. It is the successor of the
ancient Thracian settlement called Mesambria
founded in the Second century AD. Its name
means town of Melsa. Since 510 AD it was turned
into Greek colony town by Dorian settlers.
They called it Mesambria and turned it a rival
to the town of Apollo for the Black Sea trade.
There was a theatre and a temple of the Greek
God Apollo in it. Brass and silver money were
coined there, and in the third century AD
- golden ones. It was occupied in 72 AD by
a Roman garrison. The town was of secondary
importance during the Roman era. It started
to play important role again in III-IV century.
Around the year 680 the town was an Episcopal
centre, and in VII-VIII century - an important,
and strong and protected Byzantine naval base.
In the year 812 Khan Krum conquered the town.
In 864 Boris I yielded the possession of the
town to Byzantine, but king Simeon captured
it again. Since XI century the Slav name Messebar
or Nessebar has been used together with the
original name Mesambria.
During the Second Bulgarian Kingdom the town
rulers were either Bulgarians or Byzantines.
The peak of its development was during the
reign of king Alexander I when the town was
one of the most important centres in the Bulgarian
State. The official documents issued in Mesambria
gave evidence of donations given to Nessebar
for the building of churches and monasteries;
according to the legends - more than 40.
The crusaders led by Amedei VI of Savoy captured
the town in 1366 and gave it to the Byzantines.
The chronicles of Mesambria gave us information
about the time when the town was enslaved
by the Turks in 1371. The town kept its importance
as an important harbour during the Turkish
slavery: ships were built; corns, wood, etc.
were exported. After the liberation it was
turned into a small fishing town.
In 1956 the town was proclaimed an architectural
and archeological reserve. The remnants of
an antique fortified wall with a gate dating
from III-IV century, the churches from V-VI
century and the ones dating from the medieval
period (X-XIV century), which are fine works
of the medieval Bulgarian and Byzantine architecture,
the 60 houses of the revival period, give
the town unique appearance and atmosphere.
The area of the Municipality of Nesebar
is 21 883 decares or 5.4% of the territory
of the District of Bourgas. 167 229 decares
of them are arable lands, 20 418 decares are
forests. The beaches are among the largest
on the Bulgarian Black Sea coastline, with
an area of 1517 decares and a capacity of
139 450 places for the tourists. These natural
resources are the most important factors which
determine and form the main fields of the
municipal economic - tourism, recreation,
and sports.
118 hotels, 86 BB, 294 private lodgings,
55 restaurants function on the territory of
the municipality. A significant part of this
in-kind base is concentrated in the resort
complexes Sunny Beach and Elenite in Nesebar
and the villages St. Vrach and Ravda.
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