Where is Sozopol?
A mere 400 km separates Sozopol from the bustling, crowded streets of the Bulgarian capital, and 30 km away is the famous Bulgarian resort and port city of Burgas. The population of Sozopol is relatively small - only about 5 thousand people.
National currency is the Bulgarian lev (BGN).
The city is the center of the municipality of the same name, which includes two cities and 11 villages on the Black Sea coast.
In the immediate vicinity of the city is the largest Bulgarian island in the Black Sea - St. John's Island, which is the gateway to the Burgas Bay.
Living pages of Sozopol's ancient history
The history of Sozopol dates back more than 26 centuries. According to one of the versions, the city of Sozopol was founded by the Miletian Greeks, led by the famous philosopher of the ancient world Anaximander. Aristotle, however, considered the founders of the city Rhodesian Greeks. Anyway, the city was founded on the island of Kirik and named Apollonia in honor of the god of light. One of the sights of the city is the sculpture of the patron saint Apollo by the famous ancient master Kalamis.
The convenient and protected by natural barriers location of the city allowed it to become a major trading center in a short time, standing at the beginning of the trade route between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.
The favorable conditions bore fruit - an unprecedented flourishing of culture and art began. The craftsmen of Apollonia were famous for their marble and bronze work, and monumental temples and public buildings were built.
But with the arrival of the Romans, the city lost its independence, was subjected to plunder. Roman legions destroyed the city's strong fortress walls and burned it down. The famous statue was taken to Rome as a trophy and placed on the Capitoline Hill.
Already in the 4th century Apollonia received a new name - Sozopolis, translated from Greek as "city of salvation". It was part of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Wars, raids and historical cataclysms turned a glorious trading and cultural center of antiquity into a small wine-making and fishing town, which in modern Bulgaria has become a place of unforgettable Black Sea recreation.
