Visiting Cape Kaliakra, 30 km from Balchik, Bulgaria

The Cape Kaliakra projects boldly over the Black Sea, 30 km north of Balchik, lashed by storms and burnt by the hot sun. Although it is not the most eastern point of the Bulgarian coastline, it is the most protruded cape in the entire western coastline of Black Sea. Along its length of 2 km it sharpens towards the sea in the form of a wedge to become a steep and demolishing rock. Its slopes are almost vertical with a height of 70-80 m. The waves have carved at its foot numerous caves, accessible only from the water. If you stand on the top of the cape the sea will spread in front of your eyes and show you its endless beauty. In the pleasant sunny days it makes even the dolphins to jump out of its water and greet you.

For secure and flawless floating along the Bulgarian coast a French association built seven lighthouses in the middle of 19th century and one of them is on Kaliakra. It has been preserved until present day. Countless birds have made their nests in the holes on its fire-red walls.

Kaliakra attracted people even in the early prehistoric times. The strategically position of the cape, the steep inaccessible rocky slopes and the fertile plain next to it were always highly appreciated. During 1973 skin-divers discovered in the blue sea waters an ingot of gold, silver and copper. Ingots of that type were used during the second millennium BC in the Eastern Mediterranean as pre-monetary means of payment. The one discovered near Kaliakra is 0.25 m long, 0.12 m wide and 0.012 m thick. It has the form of a stretched hide. It is supposed the ingot was brought here by Mycenaean merchants from Egypt during the period of its New Kingdom in the time when it was ruled by the pharaoh-heretic Akhnaton. Today, the ingot is shown in the exposition of the Archaeological Museum in Sofia.

During 4th century BC Kaliakra and its surroundings were occupied by the ancient city of Terizis, after the name of the local Thracian tribe Terizi. There is a legend that in the time of the Macedonian Empire (last quarter of 4th century BC), the governor of Thrace appointed by Alexander the Great - Lysimachus hid in the caves of Kaliakra a fabulous treasure of 40 horse loads of gold. In the time when the Romans conquered the Thracian lands the fortress on the cape grew with a new name Acros Castellum (Fortified Cape). The battle between the armies of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I and the rebellion leader Vitalian was held here in 513AD. In that time this fortress was one of the fifteen cities of the Skythia province. Many public buildings and a water-main were built during 6th century AD. The two wells dug into the rock to a depth of 40 m and the monumental gate of the fortress are very interesting.

When the medieval Bulgarian state was found in the last quarter of 7th century Kaliakra became a part of it. Its golden age the city lived in the second half of 14th century when it was chosen for a capital of the lands ruled by the Bulgarian boyars Balik and Dobrotitsa and turned into an important commercial port. The earliest written document in which the name "Kaliakra" was mentioned is the map from 1318. There are also well preserved medieval coins with this name on them. Without any doubt the name derives from the Greek words "kalos" and “acra” meaning "a beautiful cape".