Balchik ( bg, Балчик ; ro, Balcic)

is a In knowledge representation, object-oriented programming and design (see object-oriented program architecture), is-a (is_a or is a) is a subsumption relationship between abstractions (e.g. types, classes), wherein one class ''A'' is a subclass ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germa ...

in the

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja, South Dobruja or Quadrilateral ( Bulgarian: Южна Добруджа, ''Yuzhna Dobrudzha'' or simply Добруджа, ''Dobrudzha''; ro, Dobrogea de Sud, or ) is an area of northeastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silis ...

area of northeastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of

Dobrich Dobrich ( bg, Добрич ; ro, Bazargic, tr, Hacıoğlu Pazarcık) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 9th most populated city in Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province and the capital of the region of Southern Dobr ...

and 42 km northeast of Varna. It sprawls scenically along hilly terraces descending from the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

plateau to the sea, and is often called "The White City" because of its white hills.

Etymology

Balchik is named after the medieval ruler Balik, brother of

Dobrotitsa Dobrotitsa ( bg, Добротица, ; ro, Dobrotici or ; in contemporaneous Byzantine documents; ''Dobrodicie'' in contemporaneous Genoese documentsM. Balard, ''Actes de Kilia du notaire Antonio di Ponzo, 1360'' in ''Genes et l'Outre-Mer'', II ...

, after whom the city of

is named.

History

Founded as a

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

settlement, it was later colonised by the Ionian

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

s with the name Krounoi ( grc, Κρουνοί) (renamed as Dionysopolis ( grc, Διονυσόπολις), after the discovery of a statue of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

in the sea). Later became a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and Bulgarian fortress. Under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, the town came to be known with its present name, which perhaps derived from a Gagauz word meaning "small town". Another opinion is that its actual name derived from that of a local noble - Balik. Karvuna is the old Bulgarian name of the ancient Dionysopol (now Balchik). The external resemblance to the name of the modern town of Kavarna is an occasion for some local historians to identify them, but the archeological and historical data are not in favor of this statement. Karvuna was the capital of the Karvuna region - so called Dobrogea in the Middle Ages until the arrival of the Turks. The remains of the castle of the boyars Balik and Dobrotitsa were found above the city hospital of Balchik in the "Horizon" district (Gemidzhiya), but were almost erased by natural processes. In the Vasil Levski neighborhood there are remains of the great fortress of Karvuna, built by the Byzantines and used by them and by the Bulgarians during the First Bulgarian Kingdom. Later, due to the difficulties in defending the vast fortress located in the plain and the lack of a view of the sea, the Bulgarians built a citadel, from which are preserved modest remains of the highest hill in the city - "Echo" (Jenny Bair), and the boyar Balik inhabits the said castle opposite it on the hill above the present hospital, south of the great fortress, which the centuries have now completely obliterated. Dobrotitsa, after ruling for some time here, moved the capital of the Karvun despotate from Karvuna to Kaliakra. After the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, Balchik developed as centre of a rich agricultural region, wheat-exporting port, and district (okoliya) town, and later, as a major tourist destination with the beachfront resort of Albena to its south. After the Second Balkan War, in 1913, the town was renamed ''Balcic'' and became part of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. It was regained by Bulgaria during World War I (1916–1919), but Romania restored its authority when hostilities in the region ceased. In 1940, just before the outbreak of World War II in the region, Balchik was ceded by Romania to Bulgaria by the terms of the

Craiova Treaty The Treaty of Craiova ( bg, Крайовска спогодба, Krayovska spogodba; ro, Tratatul de la Craiova) was signed on 7 September 1940 and ratified on 13 September 1940 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under its te ...

. During

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

's administration, the

Balchik Palace The Balchik Palace ( bg, Дворец в Балчик, ''Dvorets v Balchik''; ro, Castelul din Balcic) is a palace in the Bulgarian Black Sea town and resort of Balchik in Southern Dobruja. The official name of the palace was the Quiet Nest Pa ...

was the favourite summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania and her immediate family. The town is the site of Marie's Oriental villa, the place where her heart was kept, in accordance with her last wishes, until 1940 (when the Treaty of Craiova awarded the region back to Bulgaria). It was then moved to Bran Castle, in central Romania. Today, the Balchik Palace and the adjacent Balchik Botanical Garden are the town's most popular landmarks and a popular tourist sightseeing destination. During the inter-war period, Balchik was also a favorite destination for Romanian avant-garde painters, lending his name to an informal school of post-impressionist painters – the Balcic School of Painting - which is central in the development of Romanian 20th-century painting. Many works of the artists composing the group depict the town's houses and the Turkish inhabitants, as well as the sea.

Population

The city's population is 11,051 people (data fro
National Statistics Institute - Bulgaria
2018). The total population of Balchik municipality is 19,331. According to an estimate by Bulgarian historian Rayna Gavrilova the Bulgarian population before 1878 was only around 10%. The ethnic composition has gradually changed from mostly Gagauz and Tatar/ Turkish to predominantly Bulgarian. According to the latest 2011 census data, Balchik's ethnic composition is the following: *

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

: 7,916 (72.9%) * Turks: 1,715 (15.8%) *

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

: 954 (8.8%) *Others: 191 (1.8%) *Indefinable: 79 (0.7%) *Undeclared: 755 (6.5%)

Culture

Art

Held each year since 1991, "The ProcessSpace Art Festival" is an annual international festival of

Contemporary Art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...

, which takes place over two weeks in June. Balchik Palace also hosts In the Palace International Short Film Festival.

Music

Held annually each summer since 2006 in the nearby town of Kavarna, the Kavarna Rock Fest hosts top-name bands for a three-day festival. Previous acts have included Motorhead, Twisted Sister, Motley Crew, Scorpions, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, and the Michael Schenker Group. Since a few years the mayor has cancelled the Kavarna Rock Fest due to different music preference.

Sports

Balchik is becoming well known internationally as a golfing destination. There are three 18-hole championship

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

courses within the local vicinity, two designed by

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

- Thracian Cliffs GC and BlackSeaRama GC; and one designed by

Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...

- Lighthouse GC. A fourth 18-hole golf course is currently in the planning stages.

Trivia

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

spent 11 days at the Balchik palace shooting scenes of Youth Without Youth. * Balchik Ridge, in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, is named after the town. * The currently unused Balchik Airfield is envisaged to be prepared for low-cost airlines, especially from Russia. *Famous Turkish poet

Nazım Hikmet A nazim is the coordinator of a city or town in Pakistan. Nazim or variant spellings may also refer to: *Nazim (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Nazim (surname), including a list of people with the surname See also * ...

wrote his well-known poem "Mavi Liman" (The Blue Port) in Balchik.

Twin towns - sister cities

Balchik is twinned with: * Boxberg, Germany *

Bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the hard outer layers of cereal grain. It consists of the combined aleurone and pericarp. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, ...

, Romania *

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitan ...

, Poland * Galich, Russia *

Hagfors Hagfors is a locality and the seat of Hagfors Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 10,125 inhabitants in 2010. Its history is traced to 1873, when it was decided to build two blast furnaces at the location. The town of Hagfors plays host ...

, Sweden *

Mangalia Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Norther ...

, Romania *

Stará Ľubovňa Stará Ľubovňa (german: Altlublau; hu, Ólubló; la, Lublovia; pl, Lubowla) is a town with approximately 16,000 inhabitants in northeastern Slovakia. The town consists of the districts Podsadek and Stará Ľubovňa. Names The name is of Slo ...

, Slovakia *

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...

, Russia * Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic

Gallery

File:Bulgaria-Balchik-01.jpg, Centre File:Bulgaria-Balchik-02.jpg, „Cherno More" Street File:Bulgaria-Balchik-03.jpg, An

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Church in Balchik File:Balchik Bulgaria aerial photo from the Black Sea.jpg, Aerial overview of Balchik File:Balchik boats.jpg, The Coast of Balchik File:Balchik Palace 22.jpg, Waterfall File:Balchik Palace 5.jpg, The gardens of the Balchik Palace File:Balchik Palace 3.jpg File:Balchik Palace baths ifb.JPG, The Baths of Balchik Palace File:Balchik-St1.jpg, Balchik's main street going down the harbor File:Balchik-costal1.jpg, A coastal view of Balchik's private hotels

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Balchik.com – Hotels, Restaurants, News, Events and Properties– Online catalog of BalchikBalchik Photos

Searchable Greek Inscriptions at The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI)
– Segment from ''Decree of Dionysopolis'' reviewed in ''Inscriptiones graecae in Bulgaria repertae'' by Georgi Mihailov
International Art Forum – WithoutBordersIn The Palace International Short Film Festival, BalchikBulgariaLeisure.com, Tourism Information Portal
(in Bulgarian and English)
{{Authority control Seaside resorts in Bulgaria Populated places in Dobrich Province Former capitals of Bulgaria Port cities and towns in Bulgaria Populated coastal places in Bulgaria Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast Port cities of the Black Sea Place names of Turkish origin in Bulgaria