Sozopol is a small ancient town located on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast some 30 km south of Burgas. Today the town is mostly regarded as a beach resort known for the annual Apollonia Art & Film festival named after one of Sozopol's ancient names.
The sights of Sozopol are many, but none of them can be distinguished from the rest since they all impact the visitors as an attractive ensemble. Among these are two ancient churches from the Renaissance period and more than 45 architectural monuments. The ancient atmosphere of the town fascinates the visitor with its cobbled streets and high fences, in front of which you find old women sitting and chatting, knitting laces or selling jam pots. Sozopol’s Archeological Museum, huddled behind the library, should not be missed for its collection of amphoras dredged from the surrounding waters and its display of exquisitely decorated Greek vases called kraters.
The isle of St. Ivan is situated just 2km north of Sozopol.Being the largest Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, it is famous for the 12th-14th century St. John Monastery located in the southern part of the island. Apart from its historical significance, the island is also a nature reserve, with 72 species of birds nesting on the rocks and around the coast.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria is situated in Southeastern Europe and bordered to the north by the River Danube and Romania, to the east by the Black Sea, to the south by Turkey and Greece and to the west by Serbia and Macedonia. The Balkan Mountain Range crosses the country reaching to the edge of the Black Sea and its golden beaches. The land is heavily cultivated, covered with forests and crossed by rivers. Although Bulgaria lies in the very southeast corner of Europe,the climate is never extreme in summer, even on the red-earthed plains of Southern Thrace. The Black Searesorts have some of the largest beaches in Europe and offer sunbathing from May until October, while in winterheavy falls of snow are virtually guaranteed in the mountain skiing resorts.
Despite a turbulent history, Bulgaria is the oldest surviving state in Europe to have kept its original name - since 681 AD. Part of the Ottoman Empire for around 500 years (from 1396 until 1878) and a former satellite of the Soviet Union for nearly half a century, Bulgaria is now an integral part of the modern European society, since it joined the EU on 1 January, 2007.
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