coin from the
Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultensium The earliest signs of life in the region date back 3,000 years, to the
Bronze Age and the early
Iron Age. The favorable conditions on the fertile plain, around the sea, have brought people here from early antiquity. The biggest mark was left by the Thracians who made the region rich in archaeological finds (from around 4th c. BC). This includes their sanctuary at
Beglik Tash along the south coast and a burial mound near
Sunny Beach. They built the mineral baths of
Aquae Calidae and the fortress
Tyrsis.
Bulgarian and Byzantine Middle Ages In the
Middle Ages, there were important settlements in the area: the fortress
Skafida,
Poros,
Rusokastron (
Battle of Rusokastro), the Baths called Aquae Calidae and used by Byzantine, Bulgarian and Ottoman Emperors; a small fortress called
Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower. Under the
Byzantine Empire it became an important city on the
Black Sea coast. The Bulgarian ruler
Krum built the
Erkesiya, a -long border wall from the Black Sea (near Gorno Ezerovo) to the
Maritsa River. In 1206, the
Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders (see
Fourth Crusade) destroyed Aquae Calidae, which was known as Thermopolis at this time, The baths were later rebuilt by the Byzantines and Bulgarians. Poros was mentioned in a 1270 document of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Close to Poros took place the
Battle of Skafida in 1304, when the Bulgarian Tsar
Todor Svetoslav defeated the Byzantines and conquered the southern Black Sea coast. At the beginning of the 14th century, the region was sacked by the
Catalan Company. In the 13th century Burgas is mentioned by the Byzantine poet
Manuel Philes in his works as
Burgas. The city was a small town in
İslimye (Sliven) sanjak in at first
Rumelia Eyalet, after that in the
Silistra Eyalet and
Edirne Eyalet before the liberation in 1878. In the 17th and 18th centuries Burgas became an important port for
cereal and possesses its own grain measure, the
Burgas-Kile. The town was the regional centre of trade and administrative centre of the Burgas Kaaza. In 1865 the port of Burgas was after
Trapezunt the second most important Ottoman port in the Black Sea. Burgas was at this time the major centre on the southern
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
From liberation to 1945 It was a department centre in
Eastern Rumelia before incorporated in the
Principality of Bulgaria in 1885. From the late 19th century Burgas became an important economic and industry center. The first development plan of the city was adopted in 1891 and the city's layout and appearance changed, especially through the newly constructed public buildings. In 1888, the city library was founded, in 1891 the sea garden was created and in 1897 the Cathedral of the Holy brothers Cyril and Methodius was built. In 1895 Georgi Ivanov opened the first Printing house in Burgas, followed by the house of
Christo Velchev in 1897, which changed in 1900 his name in
Velchevi Brothers Printing house. The opening of the railway line to Plovdiv on 27 May 1890 and the deep water port in 1903 were important stages of this boom and led to the rapid industrialization of the city. In the period after 151 factories were founded. Among them were the
Sugar refinery founded by
Avram Chaliovski, the
Great Bulgarian Mills of
Ivan Chadzipetrov and the oil and soap factory
Kambana. Founded in 1924 in Burgas
Deweko (now HemusMark AD) was the first pencil factory in Southeastern Europe and became in 1937 official supplier to the Bulgarian Monarchy. 1925 opened in Burgas a specialized high school for mechanics and technologies. The following year, a large covered market was opened. 1934, Burgas already had 34,260 inhabitants.
Communism During World War II on 9 September 1944 Red Army troops occupied the city and soon the whole country. In the following
People's Courts, especially members of the wealthy families of the intelligentsia and members of the
Bar Association were convicted. The two Chambers of the People's Courts met in Burgas in the former building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burgas (now the seat of the Governor of the Province Burgas). After the Communists took power in 1945, the German and Italian School and the People's University were closed and over 160 factories and businesses (including the large companies
Great Bulgarian Mills,
Veriga,
Plug,
Dab, etc.), shops, baths and other private property were nationalized. The
nationalization and inability to lead by the new rulers led the companies to the collapse of the food supply and the shortage of goods of daily life in the city. In the following years the city center of Burgas, unlike many other Bulgarian cities, was not much affected by Communist-type urbanization and has kept much of its 19th- and early-20th-century architecture. A number of oil and chemical companies were gradually built. The terrorists of the
2 June Movement, Till Meyer,
Gabriele Rollnik, Gudrun Stürmer and Angelika Goder were arrested on 21 June 1978 in Burgas by West German officials and then brought into the
Federal Republic.
Post 1990 Today the local port is the largest in Bulgaria adding significantly to the regional economy. Burgas also hosts annual national exhibitions and international festivals and has a vibrant student population of over 6,000 that add to the city's appeal. The historical society also maintains open-air museums at
Beglik Tash and
Develtum. Several countries have General Consulates in Burgas, among them
Belarus,
Czech Republic,
Estonia,
Georgia,
Greece,
Romania,
Russia,
Sierra Leone,
Turkey and
Ukraine. In 2023 Bulgaria took back the concession it had granted to Lukoil in 2011 to run the Rosenets oil terminal.
2012 bus bombing On 18 July 2012 a terrorist attack was carried out by a
suicide bomber on a passenger bus transporting Israeli tourists at the Burgas Airport. The bus was carrying forty-two Israelis, mainly youths, from the airport to their hotels, after arriving on a flight from
Tel Aviv. The explosion killed the Bulgarian bus driver and five Israelis. ==Population==