Travelling to Balchik, Dobrudzha, North-Eastern Bulgaria

Balchik is a pretty seaside town on the Northern Bulgarian coast line (divided by the Balkan Mountain from the southern one). The heady lapping of the Black Sea waves, interrupted only by the squeal of a herring-gull, the picturesque gulf protected from the winds by the steep and high cliffs create the ideal backdrop for a romantic story. Here the sins are made unnoticeably. If the love is a sin at all…

When the weather is favorable the summer season here can continue even until the beginning of November. The late fall paints an attractive landscape in which the green color has stepped back to the sea and left space, among the white rocky hills and houses, for the green and red dye. This is the best time for pleasant walks along the steep cobble-stoned streets of the amphitheatrical town winding their way to the coast. The atmosphere in the seafront pubs and cafes is somehow homely and intimate.

Balchik is at least 2500 years old. The present day town, situated in a picturesque gulf, outlined by the beautifully sculptured limestone hills, is the successor of the Thracian settlement Kruni and the ancient Greek colony and trading port Dionysopolis. According to the legend it was named after Dionys, the god of wine and fertility, after the sea threw out a wooden statue of him. Dionys became the patron of the city and was honoured two times each year with great feasts. The Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD), who was sent into exile and spent the last years of his life in the northern Black Sea city of Tomi (today Constanta in Romania), was charmed by the beauty of Dionysopolis and exclaimed "I greet you Whitestone City with your unique beauty". The prehistoric historians have also what to say because in the surroundings of Balchik were found traces from the Eneolithic Age.

A catastrophic earthquake destroyed the city in 6th century AD. The present name "Balchik" was mentioned for a first time in written historic documents from 14th century. It has been considered that it comes from the name of the first king of the Bulgarian kingdom Dobrudzha - Balik. Other scientists believe that the city name originates from the word "bal" meaning mud or slime.