Dioclacianopolis

August 21 to 22, 2019

Heading to the central Bulgarian city of Hisar involved four different trains. While there were prehistoric settlements and a small Thracian town here, the city reached its zenith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Dioclatian around 300 C.E., hence the city's Roman-era name of Dioclatianopolis. The Romans were a bit obsessed with water and the natural hot springs caused them to construct a walled city here. The defensive walls surrounding the town are remarkably intact.

The next morning, while taking pictures by the West Gate, a local runner stopped to point out to us the drainage holes in the walls. These drainage holes help to explain why the walls are still intact; water would not accumulate inside and damage the walls with the changing temperatures. The runner enthused about how the Roman established western civilization, then disparaged the Turks (1) for not appreciating this and taking bricks and stones from the walls to build mosques in the town. 

A visit to the local archeological museum helped to provide context and a rough timeline of the town.

(1) Disparaging the 500 year period of Ottoman rule (the Turkish yoke) is very common in Bulgaria.

West Gate

East Wall

South Wall

South Gate, still the main entrance to the City

The walls at night

Hisarya Mosque & St. Pantelaimon Chirch

Sheet heading out for pasture

Detail of drainage holes

Dioclatian, after whom the city is named

Spout for water entering pools

Ancient Roman Thermae Pool

Mosaic in Roman Tomb

St Pantelaimon

Double north walls

Messambria Pontica in Orbis Romana

August 20, 2019

There is a ferry across Burgas Bay from Sozopol to Nessebar, known in Roman times as Messambria Pontica in Orbis Romana. The history of the town is similar to that of Appolonia: Thracian, then Greek circa 500 B.C.E., Roman from 71/72 C.E., Byzantine, Ottoman, Bulgarian. Here in Nessebar, there is a section of the city's defensive walls where you can see each of the eras in the different construction techniques lying on top of each other, although the Greek walls were good enough to serve the Romans well.

Thete is a Roman amphitheatre site that is still used today, although much of the original theatre has been built over. To the northeast of the penninsula, the remnants of the Roman walls have been submerged by rising sea levels. The northeast wind and resulting waves prevented our seeing the walls, but the breaking wave pattern clearly revealed where they were (1).

The Archeological museum in the town was a good take. There was a large collection of pottery figurines, statuary, friezes, and stelli found in the area. We visited a few Byzantine- era churches before taking the bus back to Burgas.

(1) We had enquired earlier at a scuba center about snorkeling to see the walls. The dive master told us there is not much to see as the sea has knocked the walls apart pretty well (a).

(a) If the weather had been calmer, we may have swum out for a look, but the wind was blowing enough to dissuade us today.

Leaving Sozopol by ferry boat

Site of the Roman amphitheatre

Example of wall construction techniques chronologically from bottom to top: Thracian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman

Main city gate facing the causeway

Breaking wave signalling where the submerged walls are.

At the Archeological Museum:

Small figurine, 4th century B.C.E.

Frieze of the city council, 2nd century B.C.E.

"Messambria" still readable more than 2000 years later

Detail from Stelli, 2nd century C.E

Roman era statue

A fresco we saw at Boyana Church a few days later explains why many statues from antiquity were decapitated. The fresco depicts St Nicholas blessing the demolition of a pagan idol (Stock photo, pictures are not allowed in the church)

Sveta Sofia Basilica

Remnants of Basilica from Roman era

Byzantine Churches

Reduce, reuse, recycle: Roman carved marble reused as step into St. Stephen's Church

Fresco in St. Stephen's Church

Apollonia

August 19, 2019

We took the morning train up over the Balkan Mountains (1) (2). The train was crowded, so we gave our seats to a grandmother and we stood in the corridor leaning on the open window (3) while enjoying the mountain air (4). On the steep descent on the south slope, we could smell the brakes, which even emitted plumes of smoke as we stopped at one station (5).

Changing for the express train to Burgas at Dabovo, we entered a very stuffy compartment on the south/sunny side of the train, the window of which would not stay open (6). I leaned on the window to let in some fresh air and mimed to the other passengers in the compartment (7) whether it was OK to hold the window open. One woman shook her head and it took me a second to remember that gesture means "yes" in Bulgarian.

My clever wife rigged some straps from her bag so that the weight of the backpack would hold open the window; we got an OK finger sign from our compartment mates. Soon an older woman pulled some plums out of her bag, which we all shared, throwing the pits out the open window (8).

The peninsula and ancient port city of Appolonia was occupied by the Greeks by the 5th century B.C.E. Today, it is the Bulgarian city of Sozopol, which is mainly a touristy/beach town. Unlike Nicopolis ad Istrum, Appolonia has been continuously occupied since its founding. Most of the ancient structures, etc. have therefore been lost (or at least built over) down the millenea. The existing town and architecture appear to date mainly for the Ottoman period.

In the evening, we saw a group of people in traditional Bulgarian dress near a small outdoor stage. They played on accordions and drums, and danced for a few minutes. Next up were kids of varying ages from what appeared to be a local dance school, who were being judged as part of some local competition. They were of varying quality, but the parents all seemed enthusiastic.

(1) While the entire area/peninsula is called the Balkans, the mountains themselves are only in Bulgaria, where they are known as Stara Planina (Old Mountains in Bulgarian).

(2) We had bought a small sugar wafer cookie with chocolate filling infused with rose essence (Bulgaria produces most of the world's rose oil). We ate as much as we wanted and still had more than half to share with the birds. 

(3) The windows can be pushed down about a foot and a half from the top.

(4) This is a common practice on Bulgarian trains (especially today, with good weather and a crowded train), despite the pictograms warning against the practice posted on every window.

(5) At some of the stations, there are short dead-end sidings that veer in a slightly uphill direction. A train would presumably be switched over to use gravity to stop a train in case of brake failure (a).

(a) There is a runaway truck ramp similarly structured at the end of a long downhill in the Berkshires on the Mass Pike. Instead of pavement, there is gravel to slow down a runaway truck even more.

(6) The rail cars date from the communist era and the windows are frequently troublesome: stuck closed, stuck open (b), refusing to stay open without leaning on, etc.

(b) One March day, I was in a compartment in which the window was stuck open. I was the only one in that compartment that late winter day.

(7) 8 passengers fit into a second class compartment.

(8) The older woman three seats from the window had good aim and distance; the pit went flying through the open window. The young guy across from us shrugged his shoulders and said "biodegradable."

The morning train across the Balkans

Work car. Fresh ballast was being laid on the line and the brush was being cleared.

View from the train on the climb up the Balkands

Chapel, Sozopol

Ottoman style house

St Ivan's Island, one of only three in Bulgaria

Remnants of medieval monastery

Restored Ottoman-era fortifications

Archeological dig in Appolonia/Sozopol

Capital at Archeological site

Bulgarian folk dancers

Local high-school kids performing