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.