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city in Varna municipality, Varna oblast, Bulgaria
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Varna (Bulgarian: Варна, pronounced [ˈvarnɐ]) is the third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, the city has been a major economic, social, and cultural centre for almost three millennia. Historically known as Odessos (Ancient Greek: Ὀδησσός), Varna developed from a Thracian seaside settlement into a major seaport on the Black Sea.
Varna is a significant hub for business, transportation, education, tourism, entertainment, and healthcare. The city is referred to as the maritime capital of Bulgaria and is home to the headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine. In 2008, Varna was designated as the seat of the Black Sea Euroregion by the Council of Europe. In 2014, Varna was awarded the title of European Youth Capital 2017.
The oldest gold treasure in the world, belonging to the Varna culture, was discovered in the Varna Necropolis and dated to 4600–4200 BC. Since the discovery of the Varna Necropolis in 1974, 294 burial sites have been excavated, with over 3000 golden items inside.
Theophanes the Confessor first mentions the name Varna, as the city came to be known, within the context of the Slavic conquest of the Balkans in the 6th to 7th centuries. The name could be of Varangian origin, as Varangians had been crossing the Black Sea for many years, reaching Constantinople in the early Middle Ages. In Swedish, värn means 'shield, defense' – hence Varna could mean 'defended, fortified place'. Vikings invaded the settlement during the Middle Ages. The name may be older than that; perhaps it derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯er- 'to flow, wet, water, river' (cf. Varuna), or from the Proto-Slavic root varn 'black', or from Iranian bar or var 'camp, fortress' (see also Etymological list of provinces of Bulgaria).
According to Theophanes, in 680, Asparukh, the founder of the First Bulgarian Empire, routed an army of Constantine IV near the Danube River delta. Pursuing those forces, he reached "the so-called Varna near Odyssos [sic] and the midlands thereof" (τὴν λεγομένην Βάρναν, πλησίον Ὀδυσσοῦ). Perhaps the new name applied initially to an adjacent river or lake, a Roman military camp, or an inland area, and only later to the city itself.
By the late 10th century, the name Varna was established so firmly that when Byzantines wrested back control of the area from the Bulgarians around 975, they kept it rather than restoring the ancient name Odessos.
Prehistoric settlements are best known for the Chalcolithic necropolis (mid-5th millennium BC radiocarbon dating), a key archaeological site in world prehistory, the eponymous Varna culture, and internationally regarded as the world's oldest large find of gold artifacts, which existed within modern city limits. In the wider region of the Varna lakes (before the 1900s, freshwater) and the adjacent karst springs and caves, over 30 prehistoric settlements have been unearthed, with the earliest artefacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic or 100,000 years ago.
Since the late Bronze Age (13th–12th c. BC), the area around Odessos had been populated with Thracians. During the 8th–9th c. BC local Thracians had active commercial and cultural contacts with people from Anatolia, Thessaly, the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean Sea. These links were reflected in some local productions, for example, forms of bronze fibula of the age, either imported or locally made. There is no doubt that interactions occurred mostly by sea, and the bay of Odessos is one of the places where the exchanges took place. Some scholars consider that during the 1st millennium BC, the region was also settled by the half-mythical Cimmerians. An example of their, probably accidental, presence is the tumulus dated 8th–7th c. BC found near Belogradets, Varna Province.
The region around Odessos was densely populated with Thracians long before the coming of the Greeks to the western seashore of the Black Sea. Pseudo-Scymnus writes: "...Around the city [Odessos] lives the Thracian tribe named Crobises." This is also evidenced by various ceramic pottery, made by hand or by a Potter's wheel, bronze ornaments for horse-fittings, and iron weapons, all found in Thracian necropolises dated 6th–4th c. BC near the villages of Dobrina, Kipra, Brestak, and others, all in Varna Province. The Thracians in the region were ruled by kings, who entered into unions with the Odrysian kingdom, Getae, or Sapaeans—large Thracian states existing between the 5th and 1st century BC. Between 336 and 280 BC, these Thracian states, along with Odessos, were conquered by Alexander the Great.
Archaeological findings have indicated that the population of northeast Thrace was very diverse, including the region around Odessos. Between the 6th century BC and the 4th century BC, the region was populated by Scythians who normally inhabited the central Eurasian Steppe (South Russia and Ukraine) and partly the area south of the river Istros (the Thracian name for the lower Danube). Characteristics of their culture, weapons, and bronze objects have been found all over the region. Scythian horse ornaments are produced in "animal style", which is very close to the Thracian style, a possible explanation for the frequent mixture of both folks in northeastern Thrace. Many bronze artefacts give testimony to such a process, for example, applications and front plates for horseheads, as well as moulds for such products in nearby and more distant settlements. Since the 4th century BC the region had been populated by more Getae, which is a Thracian tribe that populated both shores around the Danube Delta.
The Celts started populating the region after they invaded the Balkan peninsula in 280 BC. Throughout northeast Bulgaria and even near Odessos, a significant number of bronze items with Celtic ornaments and typical weapons were discovered, all quickly adopted by Thracians. Arkovna, 80 km near Odessos, was probably the permanent capital of the Celts' last king Kavar (270/260–216/210 BC). Probably after the downfall of his kingdom, Celts blended with the greatly numbered Thracians in the country. Between the 2nd–1st c. BC in the present Dobrudja land, between Dyonissopolis (Balchik) and Odessos, many small Scythian states were established. Their "kings" minted their coins in mints located in cities on the western Black Sea coast, including Odessos.
The Thracians in northeast Thrace seem to be underdeveloped compared to their counterparts in South Thrace. The people lived in two types of settlements: non-fortified, located in fertile lands near water sources, and stone-built fortresses in a hard-to-reach mountain environment, where the kings' residences were usually located. Thracians engaged in farming, wood processing, hunting, and fishing. Among their art crafts is metal processing—especially weapons, excelling processing of bronze, making of bracelets, rings, Thracian type of fibulas, horse ornaments, arrowheads. Local goldsmiths used gold and silver to produce typical Thracian plate armour, ceremonial ornaments for the horses of the kings and the aristocracy, as well as valuable pateras and ritons.
Despite ethnic diversity, numerous internal and external conflicts, and cultural differences, the populations of northeastern Bulgaria and the cities along the seashore have demonstrated stable tolerance to each other. Conservatism is easily noticed in ceramic items and in religion. The highest deity of all was the Thracian horseman, who had different names and functions in different places. Water-related deities were honoured as well, such as the Three Graces or the water Nymphs and Zalmoxis by the Getae. During the centuries, especially by the end of the Hellenistic period (2nd–1st c. BC), Thracians adopted the more elaborate Hellenistic culture, thus acting as an intermediate for the continental Thracians.
Odessos or Odessus (Ancient Greek: Ὀδησσός) is one of the oldest ancient settlements in Bulgaria. Its name appears as Odesopolis (Ὀδησόπολις) in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax; and as Odyssos or Odyssus in the Synecdemus and in Procopius. It was established in the second quarter of the sixth century BC (585–550 BC) by Miletian Greeks on the site of a previous Thracian settlement. The Miletian founded an apoikia (trading post) of Odessos towards the end of the 7th c. BC (the earliest Greek archaeological material is dated 600–575 BC), or, according to Pseudo-Scymnus, in the time of Astyages (here, usually 572–570 BC is suggested), within an earlier Thracian settlement. The name Odessos could have been pre-Greek, arguably of Carian origin. It was the presiding member of the Pontic Pentapolis, consisting of Odessos, Tomi, Callatis, Mesembria, and Apollonia. Odessos was a mixed community—contact zone between the Ionian Greeks and the Thracian tribes (Getae, Krobyzoi, Terizi) of the hinterland. Excavations at nearby Thracian sites have shown uninterrupted occupation from the 7th to the 4th century BC and close commercial relations with the colony. The Greek alphabet has been used for inscriptions in Thracian since at least the 5th century BC.
Odessos was included in the assessment of the Delian League of 425 BC. In 339 BC, it was unsuccessfully besieged by Philip II (priests of the Getae persuaded him to conclude a treaty) but surrendered to Alexander the Great in 335 BC, and was later ruled by his diadochus Lysimachus, against whom it rebelled in 313 BC as part of a coalition with other Pontic cities and the Getae. Nevertheless, at the end of the 4th century BC, the city became one of the strongholds of Lysimachus. The city became very prosperous from this time due to strong sea trade with many of the Mediterranean states and cities, supported by a wide range of local products. Shortly after 108 BC, Odessos recognised the suzerainty of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
The Roman city, Odessus, first included into the Praefectura orae maritimae and then in 15 AD annexed to the province of Moesia (later Moesia Inferior), covered 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths, Thermae, erected in the late 2nd century AD (so-called Large (North) Ancient Roman Thermae), now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria (the building was 100 m (328.08 ft) wide, 70 m (229.66 ft) long, and 25 m (82.02 ft) high) and fourth-largest-known Roman baths in Europe which testify to the importance of the city. There is also the Small (South) Ancient Roman Thermae from the 5th–6th century AD. Additionally, in 2019, archaeologists discovered ruins of a Roman thermae building from the 5th century AD.
Major athletic games were held every five years, possibly attended by Gordian III in 238.
The main aqueduct of Odessos was recently discovered during rescue excavations north of the defensive wall. The aqueduct was built in three construction periods between the 4th and the 6th centuries; in the 4th century, the aqueduct was constructed together with the city wall, then at the end of the 4th to early 5th centuries when a pipeline was laid inside the initial masonry aqueduct. Thirdly, in the 6th century, an additional pipeline was added parallel to the original west of it and entered the city through a reconstruction of the fortress wall. The city minted coins, both as an autonomous polis and under the Roman Empire from Trajan to Salonina, the wife of Gallienus, some of which survive.
Odessos was an early Christian centre, as testified by ruins of twelve early basilicas, a monophysite monastery, and indications that one of the Seventy Disciples, Ampliatus, a follower of Saint Andrew (who, according to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church legend, preached in the city in 56 AD), served as bishop there. In 6th-century imperial documents, it was referred to as "holiest city," sacratissima civitas. In 442, a peace treaty was signed between Theodosius II and Attila at Odessos. Furthermore, in 513, the city became a focal point of the Vitalian revolt. Additionally, in 536, Emperor Justinian I designated it as the seat of the Quaestura exercitus province ruled by a prefect of Scythia or quaestor Justinianus and including Lower Moesia, Scythia, Caria, the Aegean Islands, and Cyprus; later, the military camp outside Odessos was the seat of another senior Roman commander, magister militum per Thracias.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Varna, Bulgaria”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.