Тhe founding of the city and its transformation into an ancient Greek colony

The peninsula was first settled by ancient people known as the Thracians around 3200 BC. The Thracian culture spread in vast territories in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula and beyond. These lands included present-day Bulgaria, South Romania, parts of Eastern Serbia, European Turkey, Northwestern Anatolia, and Northern Greece, during the period from around 3000 BC until the 6th century AD.

Some Thracian tribes are mentioned as early as Homer in his work, the Iliad, as allies of the city of Troy. The “Father of History,” Herodotus, describes them as the most numerous people in the world after the Indians. From him, we also learn that the Thracian tribes inhabiting the local hinterland, and likely the peninsula itself, were called the Skirmiades and Nipsaei.

It was most likely these tribes who settled and fortified the peninsula as a defensive settlement. The earliest known name of the city was Melsambria. According to legends, Melsas was the mythical founder of the city, while “bria” meant “fortified town” in the now extinct Thracian language. Later, the name evolved into “Mesambria” for reasons of sound harmony.

At the end of the 6th century BC, the city underwent a major transformation in both character and significance. It was settled or possibly colonised by the ancient Greeks and turned into a Greek polis, which means a city-state. This transformation was part of a broader and significant historical process known as the Great Greek Colonization.

As early as the 8th century BC, Ancient Greece experienced a demographic boom that led to overpopulation, which was impossible to accommodate within the social and political structures of some of the big city-states. Simply put, there was not enough space for everyone. This created the need to seek new lands for settlement. As a result, Greek culture spread beyond mainland Greece to the Mediterranean coasts of Italy, Sicily, France, and Spain, followed by the northern shores of Africa. The final phase of this process took place along the Black Sea coast during the 7th 6th centuries BC.

The first Greek colony on the modern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, founded around 610 BC, was Apollonia Pontica, today’s Sozopol, located about 60 km south of here, and it can be visited in a single day by taking the daily ferry, which departs from the South dock in the morning and returns in the afternoon. A few decades later, around 570 BC, Odessos, modern-day Varna, was established. About a century later, at the end of the 6th century BC, Mesambria was founded as the only Dorian colony along this coastline.

But what does “Dorian” mean? And if Mesambria was the only one, what were Apollonia and Odessos? You may have heard the terms “Doric,” “Ionic,” and “Corinthian” in architecture. These names still refer today to the three types of capitals used in marble columns. This is because the ancient Greeks were not a homogeneous ethnic group but consisted of three main “tribal groups,” speaking different dialects and having distinct cultural traits.

The Ionians were the oldest population in Ancient Greece, descendants of the Mycenaeans, living mainly in Ionia, today’s western coast of Turkey. The most famous Ionian polis was Athens. The Dorians invaded Greece from the north around 1200–1100 BC and settled mainly in the Peloponnese, subjugating the local population. They were the ancestors of the Spartans. The Aeolians were another Greek group inhabiting primarily Northwestern Asia Minor.

Within just a few decades of its founding, Mesambria became one of the most developed cities along the western Black Sea coast. It established its own trading post, an emporion, and a smaller settlement, called Navlochos, today’s town of Obzor, about 40 km to the north. During this period, Mesambria also controlled important saltworks located about 20 km to the south, near modern Pomorie, which were a frequent cause of conflict with Apollonia.

Mesambria’s trade ships, loaded with goods from the fertile lands of Thrace, grain, timber, metals, livestock, and other products. The export reached ports not only across the Black Sea but also the Mediterranean, including Athens and Alexandria in Egypt, as well as Scythia, modern-day Ukraine to the north. Imported goods were primarily luxury items, glass objects from Egypt, fine woven textiles from Pergamon, high-quality pottery from Athens, and bronze objects from Corinth.

A key guarantee for Mesambria’s trade was the presence of the Athenian navy. After the Greek alliance defeated the Persians, Athens extended its influence as far as Byzantion. Due to its distance from the main theaters of conflict, Mesambria was not required to formally join the Athenian League, yet it remained under its protection, as a vital grain supply for the Athenian empire.

At the same time, in the mid-5th century BC, the Thracian Odrysian kingdom rose to power south of the Balkan Mountains. It expanded rapidly and eventually brought the Greek colonies along the Black Sea coast, including Mesambria, under its control. The city retained its political autonomy and continued minting its own silver and bronze coins, but was required to pay tribute to the Odrysian ruler. In return, it received the right to trade freely along the Thracian coast, as evidenced by an inscription carved on a stone slab, which can still be seen today in the local archaeological museum.

Later, the situation changed again. With the Macedonian expansion against the Odrysian kingdom in 342 BC, Philip II of Macedon formed alliances with Apollonia and Odessos, and it is assumed that Mesambria joined them as well. Under Alexander the Great, these cities retained their autonomy as allies. However, under his successor Lysimachus, they lost this autonomy and were required to pay tribute.

This difficult situation led to the formation of a coalition known as the Pentapolis Five Cities, uniting Apollonia, Odessos, Istros, Callatis in present-day Romania, and Mesambria. Together, they successfully resisted the rule of Lysimachus between 313 and 304 BC. Afterward, the Greek cities of the Black Sea came under the authority of another successor of Alexander—Seleucus I Nicator.

By the end of the 3rd century BC, Celtic tribes invaded the Balkans. They defeated the Thracians and managed to establish their power in the region of the city of Byzantion, present-day Istanbul, Turkey. It is believed that, although for only about 60 years, they also imposed tribute on Mesambria.

Despite these political upheavals, the city managed to preserve its importance as a major commercial and cultural center along the western coast of the Black Sea. Its strategic location, economic vitality, and ability to adapt to changing political realities allowed it to endure in a world marked by constant conflict and competition for dominance.

Yet it was precisely this instability and the clash of interests between the great powers of the time that gradually paved the way for the emergence of a new master of the Balkans-the Roman empire. As the Roman state expanded its influence eastward, it inevitably turned its attention to the wealthy coastal cities of the Black Sea, including Mesambria. Thus began a new chapter in the city’s history, its incorporation into one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.

If you are interested in learning more about the Roman period, there is a separate chapter close to the Southern fortress walls.