Fortification Walls

The sea was the first, but not the last bar against the attacks of the enemies. During the centuries a lot of fortified systems have been built which made of the peninsula an impregnable fortress.
After excavations and following conservation and restoration have started the discovered parts of the defense system became one of the imposing monuments of the past which welcomes and accompanies the guests of the ancient Nessebar today.
The first inhabitants on the peninsula – the Thracians, started the fortification of the settlement in the VIII c. BC. A fortified wall with a gate has been found from this period. It was made of hewn stone joined by mud. The wall that can be seen nowadays is 2 m high. The oval shaped bends of the walls typical for the Thracian building can be found on it. The oval shaped bends of the walls typical for the Thracian building can be found on it.
During the time of Hellenistic colonization / VI c. BC / the colonists from Megara did not start immediately the construction of a new defense system. They built a new wall later, in the end of the V c. and the beginning of the IV c. BC. The work lasted till the III c. BC. Big stone blocks were used, their face sides being specially polished, placed in line, without any solder. The inner part of the wall was felled with broken stones and soil. Some three meters of this wall are saved nowadays. The Greek wall was well studied in the west part of the town. It can be seen that in some places it overlaps the later one – the Byzantine.
Nessebar being conquered by the Romans, the found defense system was preserved and used during the following centuries.
After the decay of the Roman Empire the Byzantine rulers undertook an active constructional work and in the middle of the V c. AD a new fortified wall has been built in opus micstrum – alternation of stones and bricks. The best-preserved part of it can be seen today near the city gate, opposite to the strip. Here the wall was faced with big orthogonal hewn stone blocks. The gate was flanked with two square towers on both sides of which round and semicircular towers were symmetrically placed. Two gates – a drawbridge like one and a twin leafed gate closed tightly the access to the town. During the Early Byzantine period a fortified wall was built on the South – West Coast, near the port. Above it there was a row of panoramic brick arches that now give to the coast a very special picturesque view. Fragments of this wall have been found out some 80- m southwest into the sea.
The early Byzantine system has been used during all the Middle ages. In the time of war attacks of the enemy part of it was destroyed seriously but it was quickly rebuilt. The first reconstruction was deled to the end of VI c. and the beginning of the VII c., after the attacks of the Avars. After khan Kroum conquered the city in the year 812 he pulled down the wall. Later, in the end of the century it was rebuilt of bricks. In the end of the XI c. the defense system was repaired once again. During the reign of King Ivan Alexander the walls were definitely reconstructed.
After the town was subjected to Ottoman rule in 1453, the defense system lost its strategic importance and, left without any special cares, gradually declined.
After the town was subjected to Ottoman rule in 1453, the defense system lost its strategic importance and, left without any special cares, gradually declined.