Nesebur

(until 1934, Mesemvriya or Mesembria), a city and resort in Bulgaria in Burgas District. It is situated on the Black Sea, 32 km northwest of Burgas. Population, approximately 2,500. Nesebur has a Mediterranean climate, with very warm summers (average July temperature, 23°C) and mild winters (average February temperature 2.4°C). The annual precipitation is 420 mm. Therapeutic treatment, including sunbathing, sea bathing, and grape cure, is available to those suffering from respiratory disorders other than tuberculosis, metabolic imbalances, and diseases of the nervous system, cardiovascular system, and kidneys. The Solnechnyi Bereg resort complex (1958–59, architects N. Nikolov and others) is located near Nesebur.

Nesebur is an ancient city. It was founded by Greeks from Megara and Chalcedon circa 510 B.C. on the site of a Thracian settlement that had been established there at the beginning of the first millennium B.C. Up until its conquest by the Romans in the first century B.C., it was a major trade and artisan center. The city regained its importance in the third and fourth centuries A.D. During the early Byzantine period, it was an important economic, military, administrative, and religious center. In the ninth century the city became part of the Bulgarian state. In 1371 it was seized by the Turks, remaining under their rule until Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turkish yoke in the second half of the 19th century.

Preserved from ancient times in Nesebur are the remains of the city walls, the port, the theater, and other structures. Medieval structures include the ruins of the Old Metropolitan See (sixth century), as well as the remains of fortifications and of numerous other churches (Church of St. John the Baptist, tenth century; Church of St. John the Divine, 13th and 14th centuries; Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, 13th and 14th centuries; and Church of the Pantocrator, 14th century). Many of the churches have intricately patterned brickwork and glazed ceramic insets. There are 19th-century residential buildings with projecting wooden upper stories. Since 1956, Nesebur has been a museum-city.