BULGARIA 631Sunny Beach t
Слънчев бряг
430 km (267 miles) E of Sofia.
@ from Burgas. g
http://www.sunnybeach.bg.com
Established in the 1960s, Sunny
Beach (Slûnchev Bryag) was
one of Bulgaria’s first coastal
resorts. It is now the country’s
largest, and it continues to
expand in all directions. Pala-
tial hotels, apartment blocks
and Socialist-era leisure com-
plexes stretch out behind a
beach 8 km (5 miles) long.
Sunny Beach has earned
Blue Flag status in view of its
high environmental standards
and is particularly popular with
families and visitors on pack-
age holidays. The resort offers
a range of water sports, as well
as a multitude of shops.
Burgas u
Бургас403 km (250 miles) E of Sofia.
* 193,000. k £ @ (
daily. http://www.burgas.bgBurgas had its heyday in the
19th century, when it enjoyed
an economic boom based on
craftsmanship and the export
of grain. It has benefited from
recent refurbishment and
has several fine churches
and museums.
The Church of Sts Cyril and
Methodius was designed by
Ricardo Toskanini, an Italian
architect who strongly influ-
enced Burgas’s architecture in
the early 20th century. Near-
by, the Ethnographic Museum
con tains a good collection of
traditional costumes, while
the Archaeological Museum
has a small but captivating
display of items dating back
10,000 years. The town’s Art
Gallery has some fine 18th-Elegant façade of the Church of Sts
Cyril and Methodius, BurgasSozopol i
Созопол435 km (270 miles) E of Sofia.
* 4,400. @ from Burgas.
( daily. _ Apollonia Arts
Festival (first 10 days in Sep).
http://www.sozopol.bgWith sandy bays to the north
and south, Sozopol stands on a
peninsula jutting out into the
Black Sea, its cobbled streets
lined with pretty old houses.
One of the First Bulgarian
Kingdom’s major ports, it
remained an important centre
of shipbuilding, commerce and
fishing until it was overtaken
by Burgas in the 19th century.
The collections in the
Archaeological Museum docu-
ment Sozopol’s long history,
including Greek pottery and
some fascinating figurines from
the ancient Greek necro polis.
Most of the town’s medieval
churches were des troyed in
the Ottoman period, but later
examples remain, includ ing
the 15th-cen tury Church of
Sveta Bogoroditsa, with elab-
orate wooden icon ostases,
and the Church of Sveti Zosim,
with icons by the famous artist
Dimitar of Sozopol. Sozopol
also hosts the Apollonia Arts
Festival, one of Bulgaria’s
foremost cultural events.Nesebûr y
Несебър
435 km (270 miles) E of Sofia.
- 9,000. @ from Sunny Beach,
Burgas and Varna (in summer).
g from Sunny Beach. ( daily.
Set on a rocky peninsula,
Nesebûr was first settled by
Thracians, but it was in the
13th and 14th centuries that
it reached its commercial and
cul tural zenith. Today, it is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site,
and tends to become very
crowded in summer.
The beautiful Old Town is
packed with historic houses
and attractive churches, many
in Byzantine style. Among the
churches, the Old Metropolitan
Church, founded in the 5th
century, is the largest and old-
est. Although it is in ruins, it is
still the focal point of the Old
Town, and a popular meeting
point and concert venue.
In the 15th century, it was
supplanted by the New
Metropolitan Church, which
has a breathtaking interior
densely covered in 16th– to
18th-century frescoes, as well
as an ornate bishop’s throne
and a wooden pulpit. The
Archaeological Museum pro-
vides a fascinating insight into
Nesebûr’s long history, with
fine Thracian and medieval
collections, including an
Ruins of the Old Metropolitan Church, Nesebûrand 19th-century icons as well
as works by modern Bulgarian
painters, including local artists.Environs
Outside Burgas is Lake Poda, a
haven for rare birds and plants.
Man aged by the Bulgarian
Society for the Preservation of
Birds, the lake and its environs
are internationally important.outstanding array of icons,
gold jewellery and architec-
tural elements. There is also
an Ethnographic Museum.