Dionysupolis or Dionysoupolis or Dionysopolis ( grc, Διονύσου πόλιςStephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §D233.1
/ref> and Διονυσόπολις) was a town of

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

, later of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

, on the river Ziras. It was 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 t ...

settlement in was founded still in V century BC, but 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 peri ...

s and given the name Cruni or Krounoi (Κρουνοί). It was named Krounoi from the nearby founts of water. It was renamed as Dionysopolis after the discovery of a statue of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

in the sea. Later it 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 Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

fortress. The town also bore the name Matiopolis. It existed within the present town of

Balchik Balchik ( bg, Балчик ; ro, Balcic) is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km northeast of Varna. It spra ...

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 Macedon ...

. In the beginning of III century BC the city was relatively independent and included in the system of fortifications built by Diadohite. In VI century the town was destroyed by an earthquake and the population moved within the new fortification, whose construction began at the end of the V and beginning of VI century. Later, in VII century the town is possession of the Bulgars and Slavs and was renamed first to Karvuna, and after that - Balik, after the name of Boyar Balik, who used it as a capital of its domain. One of the most important discoveries in borders of the ancient Dionysopolis is the Temple of Greet mother-goddess Cybele. Many of the artifacts found there can be seen in Balchik History museum. Since 1994 the site has the status of cultural monument of national significance.

References

Populated places in ancient Thrace Former populated places in Bulgaria Greek colonies in Thrace Ionian colonies in Thrace Greek colonies in Scythia Minor Thracian towns {{Dobrich-geo-stub