St. Anastasia Island ( bg, остров св. Анастасия, ''ostrov Sv. Anastasiya'', formerly called ''Bolshevik Island'', ''остров Болшевик'') is a

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 ...

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. It is located 1.5 km off the coast near

Chernomorets Chernomorets ( bg, Черноморец ) is a town on the Black Sea coast of southeastern Bulgaria. Administratively part of Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Province, Chernomorets is a popular seaside resort. Chernomorets lies some southeast of ...

, at 12 metres above sea level, and covers a territory of one hectare. The island is built of

volcanic rocks Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

. It is the only inhabited island off the

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coast ...

. The island is supplied with electricity and drinking water. It is named after the former St. Anastasia convent located on it. The convent had existed since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and was reconstructed during the 18th-19th century. It has been abandoned since 1923, when the island was transformed into a prison. In 1925, a group of 43 political prisoners ( communists and anti-fascists), led by Teohar Bakardzhiev, revolted and escaped from the island, subsequently fleeing to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In their honor, the island was renamed Bolshevik Island when the communists came into power in 1945. Bulgarian film director

Rangel Valchanov Rangel Valchanov ( bg, Рангел Вълчанов; 12 October 1928 – 30 September 2013) (also seen as Vulchanov) was a Bulgarian cinema actor and director. He finished theater directing at the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre an ...

based his 1958 film ''On The Small Island'' ( bg, "На малкия остров") on this event. A Bulgarian

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...

-based weekly newspaper, ''Factor'', reported in 2006 that the

Movement for Rights and Freedoms The Movement for Rights and Freedoms ( bg, Движение за права и свободи ''Dvizhenie za prava i svobodi'', ДПС, DPS; tr, Hak ve Özgürlükler Hareketi, HÖH) is a centrist political party in Bulgaria with a support base ...

leader,

Ahmed Dogan Ahmed Demir Dogan ( bg, Ахмед Демир Доган; born 29 March 1954), born Ahmed Ismailov Ahmedov (), is a Bulgarian oligarch and politician of Turkish ethnicity. He was chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) from 1990 t ...

, visited the island and expressed desire to privatize it. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, however, which claims the island is its property, objected. Today, in addition to the monastery with its church, there is a lighthouse situated on the island, as well as a museum, a restaurant, a small quay, a conference hall and two guesthouses with a total of five rooms available to tourists. In the summer, the island is accessible from Burgas via boat services running back and forth multiple times a day.

Gallery

File:Saint Anastasia Island lighthouse.jpg, The lighthouse on the island in 2014 File:Beach and Port at St Anastasia Island, Black Sea, Bulgaria.jpg, Beach and pier on the island of St. Anastasia. Burgas can be seen on the horizon

External links

Official tourism website of the island
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasia Islands of Bulgaria Islands of the Black Sea Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Landforms of Burgas Province Tourist attractions in Burgas Province

Gallery

External links

See also

References