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 Obzor
At
a point roughly midway between Bourgas and Varna, the E-87 highway
emerges from the hilly wooded terrain into a brief open coastal
stretch around Obzor. Despite the town's convenient location
and six-kilometer long sandy beach (the largest between Golden
Sands and Sunny Beach), this remarkably pleasant spot is surprisingly
uncrowded even during peak season.
The origins of the town, which the ancient Greeks knew as Heliopolis
("town of the sun"), can be seen in the small park
which is lined with columns and statuary fragments from a Roman
temple to Jupiter which once graced the spot. The Romans also
built a fortress in the vicinity to protect their sea trading
routes between Constantinople and the Danube. Medieval Bulgarians
constructed their own Kozyak fortress nearby.
WHAT TO DO
Seeing as how it would take an experienced archaeologist to
locate the remains of either of the ancient fortresses, the
best thing to do is relax and kick back on the extensive beach.
When boredom sets in, head six kilometers north to Biala. Founded
in the 3rd century BC, Biala today is a mix of traditional working
village and tourist resort and appears more prosperous than
most Bulgarian villages, undoubtedly due to the thriving local
wine industry. It also boasts an impressive setting atop bluffs
that end abruptly at the water's edge. Stairs lead down to a
secluded beach that curves north toward rocky Cape Atanas; to
the south, another promontory separates the small sandy strip
from the much longer beach at Obzor. VICINITY South of Obzor,
the highway courses for 14 kilometers through open vineyards
and the heavily wooded Balkan range to Cape Emine, which overlooks
the Bay of Nessebur. Bulgaria's stormiest cape has a lighthouse
and the ruins of a medieval fortress and monastery. Today, a
deserted church is the only remaining structure. The nearby
hamlet of Emona had a Thracian sanctuary and, later, a temple
to Jupiter. The name of the medieval Bulgarian fortress, Emona,
was derived from Aemon, the ancient name for the Balkan Mountains.
Obzor is a major rest stop for buses and vans from Bourgas and
Varna that regularly ply the north-south coastal highway, so
getting there from either direction is not a problem.
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