0736, 2012 BULGARIA (Burgas) - Ancient city of Sozopol

0736 Sozopol - Aerial view (1)

Posted on 12.07.2013, 05.11.2015
In 2012 I spent my vacation in Nessebar, on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, and with this occasion I visited also Sozopol, situated 70 km further south (on the road, on the shores of the Gulf of Burgas; I believe that on the sea aren't more than 30 km, because just crosses the bay). Originally named Antheia, then Apollonia (Apollonia Pontica or Apollonia Magna), it's one of the oldest towns on Thrace's Black Sea coast, being founded in the 7th century BC by Greek colonists from Miletus.

2012 Sozopol - Aerial view (2)

 

The town established itself as a trade and naval centre in the following centuries, but also as an important cultural centre. Ruled successively by the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Ottoman Empires, Sozopol was assigned to the newly autonomous Bulgaria in the 19th century. Almost all of its Greek population was exchanged with Bulgarians from Eastern Thrace in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars.

As also in Nessebar, the ancient part of the town is situated on a peninsula (previously an island) connected to the mainland by a narrow man-made isthmus, and the similarities between the two cities don't stop there, because not only their origin was similar, but also their destiny: were conquered by the Turks in the same year (1453 - the year of the Fall of Constantinople), and their architectural heritage remained and was enriched in the 19th century by the construction of wooden houses in style typical for the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Indeed, Sozopol is smaller and it hasn't so many medieval churches, instead is more coquettish, more intimate, more airy, and without so many tourists.The ancient atmosphere of the town is further fed by cobbled streets and high fences in front of which the old women sit and chat, knit laces and sell jams.

About the stamps
On the postcard 0736
The stamp is part of a serie dedicated to the roses, about which I wrote here.

On the postcard 2012

 
The stamps are part of the series Mushrooms, designed by Stoyan Dechev, and issued on February 10, 2014:
• Pine Bolete / Boletus pinophilus (0,10 BGN) - It's on the postcard 2012
• Magpie Fungus / Coprinopsis picaceus (0,20 BGN) - It's on the postcard 2012
• Citron Amanita / Amanita citrina (0,50 BGN) - It's on the postcard 2012
• Green-cracking Russula / Russula virescens (1,00 BGN) - It's on the postcard 3177

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday #176, hosted on Beth's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Click on the button below to visit all the other participants.

References
Sozopol - Wikipedia
Sozopol - Invest Bulgaria

Sender 0736: Dănuţ Ivănescu
Sent from Sozopol (Burgas / Bulgaria), on 03.09.2012
Sender 2012: Ivan / ICHF (postcrossing) BG 69590
Sent from Burgas (Burgas / Bulgaria), on 22.10.2015