LATE ANTIQUITY AND MEDIEVAL FORTRESS IN AHTOPOL
It occupies the entire peninsula in the old part of the modern city Ahtopol.
History
Ahtopol (ancient and medieval Auleoteyhos, Agathopolis) is located on 90 km south of Burgas. The city is situated on a small rocky peninsula with approximate length of 500 m, 300 m width and a height, reaching on places 20 m asl.
The town was founded in the end of the 5th - beginning of the 4th century BC as a trading colony of Apollonia Pontica (nowadays Sozopol).
The city fortification system was created in the 5th century, when defence structures had been build in most Black Sea ports near the Byzantine capital Constantinople, and was used to the beginning of the 17th century.
Preservation
Recent archaeological excavations have revealed part of the fortress wall, which will be restored and exhibited in its natural surroundings.
Area Descriptions
Preserved parts of the medieval town fortification system combine well with restored old houses presenting the traditional wooden architecture along the Black Sea coast of the 18th-19th century. The old town can be visited the oldest church in Ahtopol "St. Constantine and Helen" from the 17th century preserving its original wood-carved iconostasis.
