Ahtopol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Ahtopol**

Province (oblast)	Burgas
Population	1,320 (15.12.2004)
Altitude	0 m
Postal code	8280
Area code	0550
Geographic coordinates	42° 6' north, 27° 57' east
Time zone	EET (UTC +2; UTC+3 in summer)
Mayor	Biser Kolev

Ahtopol (Bulgarian: Ахтопол)(Greek: Αγαθούπολις) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turkey.

The town lies at the site of an ancient Thracian settlement. It was probably colonised in the 6th century BC. The Romans called it Peronticus, while the Byzantine leader Agathon reconstructed the town after barbarian invasions and gave it his own name, Agathopolis.

In the Middle Ages, the town frequently changed hands between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. With the arrival of the Ottoman troops at the end of the 14th century, it was called Ahtenbolu. It was burnt down and devastated by sea pirates many times with the most recent fire being in 1918 when the town was almost destroyed. Remains of the town's fortress (reaching up to 8 m in height and 3.5 m in width), the 12th-century monastery of St Yani and a fountain with a carved horseman are the only traces left from ancient times. Another landmark is the Church of the Ascension from 1796.

After the Balkan Wars, when the area was ceded to Bulgaria by the Ottoman Empire, the town's predominantly Greek population moved to Greece and was replaced by Bulgarian refugees from Eastern Thrace.