Reserve · Old town

Landmarks

The old town holds dozens of Revival-era houses, mediaeval churches, fortress walls and the Archaeological Museum.

XVвек
Church of St. Mary
1км
St. Ivan Island
1974
Architectural reserve
100%
Getting around the old town
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Landmarks

The old town holds dozens of Revival-era houses, mediaeval churches, fortress walls and the Archaeological Museum.

Church of St. Mary

Built partly below ground at the end of the 15th century — under Ottoman rule churches could not be taller than mosques — with an exceptional 19th-century carved wooden iconostasis.

Archaeological Museum

The collection traces the history of Apollonia/Sozopolis — Greek ceramics, Roman sarcophagi, mediaeval icons and finds from St. Ivan Island.

Southern fortress wall and tower

A restored section of the late-antique and mediaeval fortress — with a panoramic view of the harbour and bay.

St. Ivan Island

Bulgaria's largest island, 1 km from Sozopol, with the excavations of the mediaeval St. John the Forerunner monastery and the country's largest pelican and gull reserve.

Revival-era houses

Dozens of 18th–19th-century houses with stone ground floors and wooden upper floors shape the look of the old town. Many now serve as galleries, taverns and small hotels.

Apollonia Art Gallery

The municipal gallery in the old town exhibits work by Bulgarian artists inspired by Sozopol and the Black Sea. The heart of the September Apollonia festival.

Start here

Start your Sozopol journey

Stroll down pedestrian "Apollonia" street, lunch on fresh fish at the harbour, and end with a concert at the Apollonia arts festival in September.