Nessebur

Nessebur is a town caught in between two conflicting paths of development.

On one hand, Nessebur is a beautiful museum town – an ancient city built by Romans on an island in the Black Sea. UNESCO declared the old town on the island a World Heritage Site, or a masterpiece of human accomplishment vital to the history and cultural fabric of Bulgaria.


Connected to the mainland by a small strip of sand and a road, Nessebur seems like it would have been the ideal location in which to place a town, taking into consideration its natural strategic advantages. Due to its great natural defensive capabilities, the town is home to several amazingly well preserved churches (some dating back to the 10th century), as well as a good amount of Bulgarian revival architecture from the 1800s.



On the other hand, Nessebur is a big and gaudy beach town sharing the same strip of sand as Sunny Beach (at times blending into, or being absorbed by, its neighbor). The road into the old town is lined with water parks and casinos, and the distinction between historical areas and modern development is becoming increasingly ambiguous. Indeed, scattered amongst the ruins of Roman fortifications and the historical buildings are located giant neon signs advertising English breakfasts. The old cobblestone streets are now lined with tacky souvenir stands selling everything from shock-factor t-shirts to plastic beach toys.


At some points it’s somewhat difficult to tell what heritage exactly UNESCO is preserving here. The buildings are being preserved, but the meaning is left behind, the actual culture being lost in the shuffle. At the same time, it’s hard to tell if one thing is possible without the other – if the authentic structures would still be in tact without the support from the artificial. It is often the same case for any place of historical or cultural significance. And so, just like any other place one has to dig to find a bit of true meaning of the place and to capture at least a piece of the character that made it so great to begin with.

Just like the rest of Bulgaria, it will be the beautiful things that I choose to bring with me, not the junk that is currently covering it up.

Until next time...