Archaeology of Apollonia Pontica

Ancient Apollonia Pontica (present-day Sozopol, Bulgaria) is one of the oldest towns on the western Black Sea Coast. The city, founded by Miletian colonists around 610 BCE, was named Apollonia Pontica in honor of the patron deity of Miletus – Apollo. The Ancient authors identify the philosopher named Anaximander as the founder of the city. It became an autonomous and strong democratic polis, as well as an important trade center between Ancient Greece and Thrace. Thanks to its strong navy and naturally protected harbors, Apollonia kept control of the major merchant road along the western Black Sea Coast, called Via Pontica, for several centuries. The city preserved its independence during the campaigns of Phillip II of Macedon (342-339 BCE) and Alexander the Great (335 BCE) but in 72 BCE it was conquered, pillaged and burned by the Roman legions of Marcus Lucullus. The city succeeded in restoring its former glory and was known in the Roman world as Apollonia Magna (Great Apollonia). Following the Christian mainstream tradition, its name was changed to Sozopol, meaning “town of salvation”, in the 4th century CE. Despite the invasions, it survived the period of the Great Migration (4th – 7th century CE) and entered the Middle Ages as a focal point of long-lasting Byzantine-Bulgarian conflicts.

The site “Messarite” is located southwest of Sozopol, approx. 2 km from the center of the Old Town. During archaeological field surveys in this area were registered 29 sites – remains of buildings, fortification walls for artificial terraces of the land and three tombs. The site is divided into three sectors on the western slope on the eastern side of a small valley where the small chapel “St. Marina” is located. Dr. Panayotova’s team excavated the remains of six buildings dated between the second half of the 5th century BCE and the beginning of the 3rd century BCE. Parts of an ancient road oriented north-south were also discovered. It is 6,50 m wide and so far over 40 m of its length were uncovered. On both sides, there are remains of buildings.

Towards the end of the 4th century BCE, the buildings in all three sectors were abandoned and destroyed. Shortly after graves with both inhumations and cremations started appearing in the abandoned ruins. In one area there are even family plots enclosed with stone walls (periboloi). Until now a total of 42 graves have been excavated all dated in the first half of the 3rd century BCE. The burial structures vary from pits, pithoi, ceramic and limestone sarcophagi, to tile-lined and cist graves while the cremations are in locally made urns. The funeral gifts are typical for the period – incense vessels (lekithoi and unguentaria), funeral wreaths, strigili, mirrors, scissors, coins and jewelry. In front of the family plots were discovered traces of funerary rites including 10 ritual firepits.

These are the first excavations of the broader territory of an ancient Greek colony in present-day Bulgaria. The results from the excavations along with the traces of mining and metallurgy in the adjacent area shed light on the economic development of Apollonia Pontica in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.