Varna

Varna is a port city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Bulgaria. Gold objects from the Varna Necropolis, buried in the 5th millennium BC, are counted among the oldest worked gold found anywhere.

Greek settlers from Miletus founded the colony of Odessos on the bay in the 6th century BC, and under Roman rule it grew into a trading town with large public baths. The name Varna appears in records from the 7th century, when the Bulgars settled in the region. The town came under Ottoman rule in the late Middle Ages and became part of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1878. The Dormition Cathedral, with its gilded domes, was built in the 1880s, soon after the new Bulgarian state was formed.

Navibulgar, the Bulgarian shipping company, runs its bulk carriers from a head office in Varna. The port of Varna ships grain from the plains of northern Bulgaria and handles cargo for the chemical plants of the Devnya valley inland. Golden Sands and St. Constantine and Helena, beach resorts within the city's territory to the north, draw summer guests along the coast.

The Varna Archaeological Museum shows the gold of the necropolis, among bracelets, scepters and ornaments from the graves. The Roman Thermae, the ruins of the public baths of Odessos, still stand with high brick walls in the old Greek quarter. The Varna International Ballet Competition, first held in the 1960s in the Summer Theatre of the Sea Garden, was the first international contest of its kind and still takes place every summer.