Nessebar is one of the oldest cities in Europe and among the richest in medieval architectural monuments in Bulgaria.

Thracian Age
The first dwelling place on the peninsula was established in 3000 BC. During its earliest history Thracian people inhabited Nessebar and named the city – Messabria.

Hellenic Age
By the end of the VІth century BC Nessebar was already a Greek colony formed as a town-state by settlers from Kalhidon, Byzantion and Megara, who invented its name Messemvria. The city traded with the entire eastern part of the Mediterranean pool. In the VІth century BC Nessebar started minting silver and bronze coins, and the latest observations show that during this age coins were minted in Nessebar upon request by other town-states also.

Roman Age
One of the most glamorous periods in the history of the ancient city ended with this age. The large Roman Empire gradually swallowed the whole Mediterranean world and the cities along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast became its suburbia.

Byzantine Age
In 330 AD with the Empire capital’s removal to Tsarigrad, the whole Bulgarian part of the Black Sea coast turned from a distant and deserted province into a busy region in close proximity to the new large centre. Thus, Nessebar awoke for a new life. The huge fortress wall was rebuilt. The earliest Nessebar churches date back into the Byzantine Age (V-VІ century).

Bulgarian Age
After the establishment of the Bulgarian State the importance of Nessebar grew significantly. For two centuries Byzantine emperors used this area for sizeable military fights against Bulgaria. In 812 Khan Krum conquered the city. The greatest upsurge of Nessebar in this age was during the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander. During the Ottoman yoke the town did not manage to avoid the overall economical and cultural decay of the whole Balkan Peninsula.

Nessebar is a museum of our Black Sea architecture from the XVIIIth and the XIXth centuries with its buildings, distinguished by their own individuality.

Having survived through the glamour of many upsurges and endured the destitution of many decays, the little peninsula has preserved like nowhere else the traces of many cultures – since Ancient Greece till today. And if Nessebar was once located within the eastern part of the Mediterranean, now these borders have spread from Europe to the Pacific Ocean.

The old city – a “wise man” has never witnessed so much excitement and joy in its streets. The past used to be rich, but now Nessebar is facing a new era, which unites past, present and future into one.