Nessebar is probably the place that should be visited by everyone who comes to the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. It is a charming ancient city nestled on a narrow rocky peninsula and protected by the ruins of the once mighty Greek and Roman walls. The dimensions of old Nessebar are quite small – the peninsula is 850 meters long and about 350 meters wide. The peninsula is connected to the land by a narrow isthmus 400 meters long.

Nessebar is famous for its unique ensemble of Romanesque churches and charming National Revival houses. UNESCO included Nessebar on the World Cultural Heritage List. In the summer, the city has a huge number of tourists from morning to evening. We arrived early in the morning to enjoy the beauty of the city.

The city of Nessebar originated from the Thracian fishing village of Menabria, which means “the city of Mena” (the name of the founder). In the 6th century BC. it became a Greek colony – the only Doric (Dorian Greek) colony in the Black Sea. In 72 BC. Nessebar did not put up resistance to the Roman legionaries and therefore did not suffer. At this time it is called Messembria. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city became part of Byzantium.

Mill in Nessebar, history

In the 10-14 centuries, Byzantium and Bulgaria fought for the possession of Mesembria, but despite this, the city reached its highest prosperity during this period. When Messembria came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (15th century), the city turned into a small fishing village and only by the middle of the 20th century Nessebar became a popular Black Sea resort.

On the way to the old city, on the isthmus, you come across an ancient mill. Once there were at least a dozen mills here, but only one has survived to this day. The time of its construction is unknown, but its construction is several centuries old. The huge structure is made of wood that has darkened from time to time. On the first floor of the mill there was a warehouse, on the second – the miller and his family lived, the third floor was entirely occupied by gears for transferring the rotation of the wings to the millstone. An oak pillar was dug into the round foundation, which remained from the Byzantine chapel, on which this colossus was turned. Unfortunately, you cannot get inside the mill.

The area near the mill is always filled with artists, souvenir sellers, you can listen to street musicians. On holidays, folk groups perform near the mill. In the evening, when the lights turn on, the mill looks very romantic in the beams of the spotlights.