The town of Nessebar has a population of 9 200 inhabitants and lies at a distance of 42 km northeast of Burgas. The town is the centre of a municipality of 13 component settlements. The town is known under the name of Mesembria until 1934. It is one of the oldest towns in Europe. The Old Nessebar is situated on a small rocky peninsula of the Black Sea. The town is the successor of the ancient Thracian settlement of Menabria. In 510 B.C. the town has been transformed into a Greek colony-town under the name of Mesembria by the Dorian settlers. Gold and bronze coins have been minted in the town and later in III c. B.C. gold coins as well. During the Middle ages the town changes its belonging several times moving from the Byzantine to he Bulgarian limits and vice versa. It is a Byzantine domain until VIII c. and after 812 enters the limits of Bulgaria. In XI c. it is known under the name of Meseber. The town reaches its greatest bloom in XIV c. during the reign of King Ivan Alexander.

On the small territory of the peninsula have been discovered 41 churches, the oldest of which dates back to V c. The tourists can see the remains of the ancient fortress wall with its gate dating from III-IV c., the Nessebar churches from V-VI c. and the later ones from X-XIV c. which are fine works of the middle age Bulgarian-Byzantine culture.

The town falls under the Ottoman yoke in 1453 when its fortified walls are demolished. More than 80 houses from the Revival period of XVII-XIX c. have been preserved. They belong to the so-called Nessebar type of closed two-storey town houses.

In 1956 the town is proclaimed for an archaeological reserve and is later on included in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List. Near Nessebar is situated the "Sunny Beach" resort with a perfect climate and a beach line of 150 m width.

Tourist sights

Sunny Beach resort is situated near Nessebar and has a perfect climate and a beach line of 150 m width.

Elenite is a holiday village situated on the Black Sea coast along the eastern slopes of the Stara Planina Mountains. Elenite lies at a distance of 17 km from Nessebar. The holiday village is built on a steep terrain with housing buildings which resemble the Nessebar houses.

Sveti Vlas/ St. Vlas/ is a resort village lying at a distance of 4 km from Elenite and 13 km from Nessebar. The resort is situated at the foot of the Emine part of the Stara Planina Mountains. Sveti Vlas has a narrow and stony beach line. The resort has a sanatorium for the treatment of diseases of the locomotory system. In the Middle Ages here has existed the medieval "St. Vlas" Monastery.