Old town square

A typical Nesebar street view: an old town square with small shops and taverns. Even in modern times you can feel the life style of 17th century Black Sea coast town.

Modern Nesebar

A market place in the Old town

After the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 Nesebar became part of the newly formed autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia as a kaza centre in Burgaz sanjak. In 1885 Easter Rumelia and Principality of Bulgaria united.

Around the end of the 19th century Nesebar was still a small town of Greek fishermen and vinegrowers.

In the early 20th century, the total population increased to 1,870. In the following years it developed as a key Bulgarian seaside resort. After 1925 a new town part was built and the historic Old Town was restored. Today it is one of the most important resorts in the country and one of the few with the flavor of the ancient and the new.

An Ancient Port

An ancient port town

Nesebar was a particularly important sea port during the Middle ages. In modern town it is primarily a place of tourism and a port for leasure boats.
An important stronghold of the Byzantine Empire from the 5th century AD onwards, it was being captured and incorporated in the lands of the First Bulgarian Empire in 812 by Khan Krum after a two week siege only to be ceded back to Byzantium by Knyaz Boris I in 864 and reconquered by his son Tsar Simeon the Great.
During the time of the Second Bulgarian Empire it was once again contested by Bulgarian and Byzantine forces and enjoyed particular prosperity under Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331–1371) In 1355 it was captured the crusaders led by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy.

The Bulgarian version of the name, Nesebar or Mesebar, has been attested since the 11th century.

Ottoman Style Houses

An 18-19th century house

Nessebar is also a national historical preservation. The old town is fully preserved with many old houses are restored as museums.

A Town of History and Art

Modern memorial

Nessebar is a well known cultural center in modern day Bulgaria. It has 5 museums. Many old houses are housing art collections.

The Old Town

View at the old town

The island of the Nessebar known as Mesmbria, later Mesembria and finally Nessebar has been continuously inhabited since the Bronze age.

Originally a Thracian settlement, known as Melsambria, the town became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then on and a rival of Apollonia. It remained the only Doric colony along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical Ionic colonies. At 425-424 BC the town joined the Delian League, under the leadership of Athens. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC. The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage.

Melsambria - The Ancient Thracian Town

Nessebar coat-of-arms

Melsambriya - meaning the "Town of Melsa" is an ancient, historical Thracian town on the Black Sea coast, currently known as Nesebar. It is one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province and an administrative center of the Nesebar Municipality. Often referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea" and "Bulgaria's Dubrovnik", Nesebar is a rich city-museum defined by more than three millennia of ever-changing history.