The

The Ancient City of Nessebar:

History:
The ancient city of Nessebar is situated on a small rocky peninsula which jets into the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria. Originally a settlement called Melsambria, it was settled over 3000 years ago by the Thracians. The city originally had two ports, where archaeological digs are still finding vestiges of ships today.

At the beginning of the 6th century B.C., the first Greek colonists arrived, bringing their culture and traditions. They called the city Messambria and fortified it, building temples and ships. The city’s remains date mostly from this period. The city was conquered by the Romans in 72 BC. The authorities, in fact, gave the city up without a fight in order to save the town and its people. The Romans conserved the outer walls and the public buildings.

In 395 AD, when the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern and Western Empire, Messambria remained in the Eastern part, which later became known as the Byzantine Empire. After the recognition of Christianity as an official religion, many churches and basilicas were built.

The state of Bulgaria was created in the 7th century and it was after this time that the city became known as Nessebar. It was conquered from the Byzantine Empire in the year 812 and reconquered by that same power in 863. It afterwards became a battlefield between the two powers, passing hands several times over the next few centuries.

Nessebar knew its greatest stage of prosperity during the 13th and 14th centuries, when it was one of the most important Byzantine towns on the west coast of the Black Sea. It was a time period during which many new churches were constructed in the town itself and many monasteries in the surrounding region, in which the kings of Bulgaria were educated. Among other monuments, the fortress dates from this time period.

The city was conquered by the Turks in the year 1453, several months before the Byzantine capital was conquered. During the Turkish period, churches were again built, and decorated by frescos. Nessebar continued as an important center of commerce along the Black Sea.

It was during the Bulgarian Renaissance of the 19th century that houses typical of the Black Sea architecture were built. Since the end of that century, the principal occupations of the town’s inhabitants are fishing and viticulture. The city was listed as part of the UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage sites in 1983 because of its medieval churches, which are like open-air museums.

The Churches and Houses:
Legend says that there were 42 churches built in the small town of Nessebar, but not all have been preserved. Today there are about a dozen. Most of them were made in alternating brick and stone layers and cemented together with a mixture of small stones. Many are made with arches, which are decorated with small ceramic plates, mostly green in color. Several churches have frescos that still remain, and there is evidence of at least one church having had wooden floors.

The houses in Nessebar display the style that was typical of the 19th century architecture along the Black Sea coast. There are two floors; the first floor is made in stone and was used as a storage room for fishing and agricultural equipment. The second floor is made in wood, to protect against the sea winds. The interior of the second floor had a big salon, a kitchen, and other smaller rooms for the family and their guests. The interior walls were painted in white, and the ceilings sculpted in wood. Over 100 houses typical of this style are preserved in Nessebar.

The town of Nessebar:
The town of Nessebar can be said to be romantic with its cobble-stoned streets, its well-preserved and restored medieval churches, its pretty houses from the Renaissance period, and its ideal location on the Black Sea coast. It is charmingly picturesque with its beautiful coastline, blue waters, and sea breeze.

But a lot of it is hidden by stands of postcards and other objects which are destined to be sold to tourists. You can find a whole range of artisanal products: knitted clothing, lace tablecloths, shell and wood jewellery, sculpted wooden objects, and painted ceramic dishes. Clothing and similar items are strung up on the sides of houses, and most of the buildings in the town, aside from the post office, have been turned either into restaurants or stores hawking tourist items. In the summertime, enterprising inhabitants let out rooms in their houses to tourists.

You have to make an effort to look beyond the tourist trappings to see the architecture of the houes, and indeed to see the attraction of the town itself. Its winding streets and back alleyways can be romantic if you step off the beaten path. But there is almost no corner of Nessebar that has not been touched by the steady stream of tourists which increases every year. Vendors hawk their wares in German and in English for the preponderance of tourists from those countries, ad huge banners hanging across the streets proclaim: “Shoping Center” or “Exotic Garten und Panorama.” Or “Roastbeef – Steak and Kidney Pie – Chicken Curry – Tandoori Chicken – Shephard’s Pie” for those unable to leave their British pub food at home. Men come out of every corner saying “Change Money, Change Money, Change Money!”

You have to pretend not to speak English in order to walk peacefully down the street. But the people here get ahead by learning enough languages so that they can sell to almost any tourist that comes along. And tourists are easily
reconizable here – you can pick them out by their shorts, sandals, backpack, and camara. They definitely need not feel out of place here – there are more people speaking German and English than Bulgarian.

We visited the town in May, and it was already under invasion. I wouldn’t want to be here in the summer when the town is said to attract more tourists than any other spot on the Black Sea coast.