 |
| 3319 The Ancient City of Nessebar |
Posted on 15.03.2013, 31.12.2019, 03.01.2020
For miles, the road from
Varna to
Nessebar creeps like a snake along the coast, through the forests where coniferous and deciduous mix like the ethnic groups in the
Balkans. But that's not what saw with three millennia ago the
Thracians, who came from inland to built the settlement named
Menebria, neither the
Greeks, who came from the sea to lay the foundations of the prosperous colony named
Mesembria. In 71 BC the town fell under
Roman rule, yet continued to enjoy privileges, and from the 5th century AD onwards had become one of the most important strongholds of the
Byzantine Empire.
 |
| 0555 A bird's-eye view of the Ancient City of Nessebar |
In the following centuries it passed several times from the hands of the Byzantines in those of the
Bulgarians, and even of the
Crusaders in 1366. The Bulgarian version of the name, Nesebar or Mesebar, has been attested since the 11th century. Conquered by the
Ottomans in the same year as
Constantinople
(1453), it gradually declined until returned to Bulgaria in 1885,
becoming since the beginning of the 20th century a key Bulgarian seaside
resort.
 |
| 3327 Vernacular wooden houses in Nessebar |
As an "outstanding testimony of multilayered cultural and historical
heritage", a place where many civilizations left their tangible traces,
from the
Dorians Black Sea
colony's structures to the churches from the Middle Ages and the
vernacular wooden houses built in the 19th century, Nessebar was
included on the list of UNESCO WHS under the name
Ancient City of Nessebar.
It is sometimes said to be the town with the highest number of churches
per capita, because a total of forty churches had survive, wholly or
partly, in the vicinity of the town. Its ancient part is situated on a
little peninsula, previously an island, linked with the mainland with
only a relatively narrow passageway.
 |
| 0556 The Church of Christ Pantocrator in Nessebar |
One of them is the
Church of Christ Pantocrator, constructed in the 13th-14th century and best
known for its exterior decoration, rich and colourful. Designed in late
Byzantine cross-in-square style, was builded from stones and brickwork,
a construction technique known as
opus mixtum. The best-known feature of the Church of Christ Pantocrator is the rich and colourful decoration of its exterior walls. Used today as art
gallery, is among Bulgaria's best preserved churches of the Middle Ages.
 |
| 0557 The windmill on the passageway from New Nessebar to Old Nessebar |
The Old Windmill shown in the third postcard, located on the passageway from New Nessebar to Old Nessebar, is a lovely, very intact Black Sea style wildmill. Aren't known too much about it, but it's supposed that was built in the Bulgarian revival period from the 17th to the 19th century. The building have a rough style, the design being entirely functional. The windmill base reveals a wooden guiderail and direct wood-to-wood contact.
