Sozopol History

History

Sozopol is the oldest settlement on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, founded in an area already populated by Thracians in 611 BC by Greek colonists from Miletus, who called their home Apollonia Pontica, in honour of the god Apollo. One of these early settlers was the philosopher and astronomer Anaximander.

Apollonia, ruled by an elected Council of Archons, flourished by trading wine, salt, textiles, pottery and copper, among other things, with neighbouring Thracian tribes and Greek cities, enlarging its territory to cover modern-day Pomorie and Burgas. By the time the Roman Empire began expanding into the region in the 1st century BC, the city had long lost its importance as a commercial power, and in 72 BC Apollonia was sacked, most of the town was destroyed and the famous bronze statue of Apollo was taken to Rome as booty.

Under the Byzantine Empire, and renamed Sozopolis (City of Salvation), the town regained some of its former status as a civilised Greek city, though it found itself on the front line, falling to Khan Tervel in 705, recaptured by the Byzantines in 759 and finally reverting to the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) in 969. Under Turkish rule, Sozopol declined, and for centuries was little more than a tiny fishing village.

At the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), most citizens of Sozopol fled to Russia to avoid potential retaliation by the Turks. The town remained empty for several decades before being resettled by Turks, Bulgarians and Greeks. During the communist era, the town was promoted as a holiday resort, although not until the 1990s did it really take off, with Russians and Germans being among the more numerous foreign visitors.