The only Bulgarian town that is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of the oldest towns in Europe, more than 3200 years old, where the spirit of bygone times meets the pulse of the modern town. A town where you are surrounded by millennia of history and where numerous civilizations have left material traces that harmoniously fit into modernity.
The Nessebar peninsula – the ancient Mesambria, called in the early Middle Ages Mesembria, and later Nessebar, was settled as early as the end of the Bronze Age. The ancient Thracian settlement was called Messambria. At the end of the 6th century BC, the first Hellenic settlers arrived – Doriansby origin. The city was gradually growing – temples were built, as well as a school and a theatre, and it was gradually being surrounded by a massive fortress wall, residential quarters, temples and a gymnasium wew built. A number of handicrafts opened in the town – mainly metalworking. Messambriya began minting its own coins around 440 BC – the first gold coins were minted around this time. The city had good trade relations with the Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean poleis. Findings testifying to the rich economic, cultural and spiritual life of this period are on display in the city's archaeological museum.
In 72 BC, the town was conquered without any resistance by the Romans. After a brief occupation, the town became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Mesembria, as it was then called, with its intact walls and large public buildings. After the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople and Christianity was adopted as the official religion, favourable conditions were created for the revival of the Black Sea cities. New Christian temples – basilicas were built in Mesembria, as well as fortification walls, a new water supply system and city thermae. All this was carried out by the leading architects and master masons of the Empire, by analogy with the metropolitan prototypes. The central church of Mesembria bears the name of St. Sophia, as it is in Constantinople. The town first became part of the First Bulgarian Empire in 812, when it was stormed and conquered by Khan Krum, and the Slavs and Bulgarians settled there. Nessebar, as the Slavs called the town, remained in Bulgarian hands for a long period of time during the reign of tsar Simeon the Great. Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, the city developed active trade relations with the lands of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, as well as with the principalities north of the river of Danube. Also the church of St. Stephen (11th century) and the church of St. John the Baptist (11th century) were erected and decorated with frescos, which became a prototype of the Nessebar masterpiece churches of the 13th – 14th centuries that were later built.
Today the old and the new part of the town are separated by a narrow isthmus. The old town is situated on a small peninsula. Due to its exceptional cultural and historical wealth, Nessebar was declared a museum, tourist and resort complex of international importance by Decree No. 243 of the Council of Ministers of 18.07.1956. In 1983, UNESCO inscribed the Old Nessebar on the List of World Heritage Sites. Tourists can learn more about the history and development of the settlement at the Archaeological Museum, which is located at the beginning of the peninsula. There are exhibited artifacts discovered during archaeological excavations. The traces of past historical eras are everywhere. On the territory of the Ancient city of Nessebar, you can see a part of the fortress wall, which was declared an architectural and structural monument of national importance in State Gazette, No.41 of 1964. There are many churches preserved and two of them – the church of St. Spas and the church of St. Stephen, have been turned into museums. Many of the houses in the old part date back to the Revival period (18th-19th century). The architecture of the house of Moskoyani is interesting, which houses the exposition of the Ethnographic Museum of the town. In the museum you can learn a lot about the lifestyle and culture of the inhabitants of Nessebar – many household items and traditional costumes are displayed.