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 Ahtopol |
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| Ahtopol is a tiny port town on a small hart-shaped bay 90 km south from Bourgas. It is the last of the string of towns on the Black Sea coast and the smallest town in Bulgaria but for Melnik. Two Thracian tribes - Skirmians and Tini were the first to settle in the area. They maintained lively political and economic relations with the people of Mycenae, Crete, Troy, Egypt prior to Greek colonization. The town was founded in 413 A.D. by Greeks from AthensThe Byzantine general Agathon built a fortress on the site that was later devastated by Goths and Huns and the town was named Agathopolis after it. The town changed Bulgarian and Byzantine hands. After the conversion of Bulgaria to Christianity in 865 Ahtopol was made the see of a diocese. Conquered by the hordes of Lala Shahin and devastated it shared the bitter lot of the other Black Sea towns during the Ottoman occupation. Ahtopol was the major port for Strandja. It maintained relations with different parts of the Turkish Empire. Its port could receive ships of 3000 tons displacement. After the First Balkan war a fire spared just few houses, the Church of the Ascension and the Monastery of St. Yani on the cape of the southern part of the bay. |
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About Strandja
Ahtopol
AHTOPOL /
