St. Ivan Island ( bg, остров св. Иван, ''ostrov Sveti Ivan'') is the largest
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 ...
n island 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 ...
, with an area of . It lies 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 ...
near
Sozopol
Sozopol ( bg, Созопол , el, Σωζόπολη, translit=Sozopoli) is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for th ...
, a town with rich history and a popular tourist place, and is separated by a strait several hundred metres long from the small neighbouring
St. Peter Island. Standing at
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
Th ...
, it is also the highest of the Bulgarian sea islands. It lies from the
Stolets peninsula, the location of Sozopol's Old Town.
History
Around the 7th-4th century BC, the island was populated by
Thracians
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 ...
. After Sozopol (Apollonia) was conquered by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
in 72 BC, a lighthouse was built on the island. Next to the Thracian sanctuary, the locals built a temple of
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
featuring a bronze statue by
Calamis standing in height, making it easy to see from the city. A complex of buildings was constructed around the temple in the southeastern part of the island, including health stations, inns, etc.
After the conversion to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, a monastical complex was built in the 5th-6th century on top of the ruins of the old Roman temple, including the Basilica of the Mother of God. Towards the 7th-9th century, the
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
was abandoned only to be reconstructed in the 10th century. The Monastery of John the Forerunner and the Baptist grew into an important centre of Christianity in the region; the buildings of the monastery and the church were reconstructed in 1262-1310. Archaeological research was carried out after 1985 for a couple of years, so today the remains of two churches, a royal residence, a library, part of the
fortified wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
with the gate and several monastic cells can be seen. The monastery was a
stauropegic
A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from el, σταυροπήγιον from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Syn ...
monastery of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople, and two former patriarchs may have been buried there after being sent into
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
.
Sozopol was conquered by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
together with
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, in 1453, and the monastery was completely destroyed, but later reconstructed in 1467-1471. In the 1620s it was a refuge for
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
s raiding the western Black Sea coast. Archaeologists have even discovered the remains of a Cossack feast in the church. The Ottomans destroyed the remaining buildings on St. Ivan Island in July 1629 in order not to be used by the pirates. It also played a part in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, when it was used as a field hospital for
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
n soldiers suffering from cholera and also had a Russian graveyard.
Until the mid-19th century, when a
natural phenomenon
A natural phenomenon is an observable event which is not man-made. Examples include: sunrise, weather, fog, thunder, tornadoes; biological processes, decomposition, germination; physical processes, wave propagation, erosion; tidal flow, and natura ...
most likely separated them, the small St. Peter Island to the east of St. Ivan was most likely adjoined to it. Two small islets or large rocks also existed to the east of St. Peter, known by the names of Milos and Gata; they were last described by Russian war correspondents in the 1820s.
There is also a lighthouse constructed by
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
engineers in 1884 and pointing to the
Burgas Bay still standing on the island. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there was a project to build a large
Balkantourist hotel on St. Ivan, but
Todor Zhivkov
Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...
's intervention prevented that.
In August 2010 the BBC reported that remains of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
had been found on the island. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the bones belonged to a man who had lived and died in the Middle East in the middle of the first century.
Nature
Apart from its historical significance, the island is also a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...
since 1993, with 72 species of birds nesting on the rocks and around the coast, 3 of which are
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...
in the world and 15 in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. St. Ivan and the adjacent St. Peter Island host Bulgaria's largest colonies of
Audouin's gull
Audouin's gull (''Ichthyaetus audouinii'') is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle", and
t ...
(''Ichthyaetus audouinii'') and
Caspian gull (''Larus cachinnans'').
St. Ivan Island is also inhabited by other rare species, such as
Mediterranean monk seal
The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...
s. The rocks on the island are covered with black
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...
s.The island is the only place in Bulgaria where underground rabbits live.
Gallery
File:Ivanpetarkirik.jpg, St. Ivan with St. Peter Island and St. Cyricus Island
St. Cyricus Island ( bg, остров св. Кирик, ''ostrov sv. Kirik''), also known as St. Cyril Island or Sts. Quiricus and Julietta Island is a Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, from Sozopol's Stolets peninsula. It has an area of about ...
in the Bay of Sozopol
Sozopol ( bg, Созопол , el, Σωζόπολη, translit=Sozopoli) is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for th ...
File:SvetiIvan.jpg, St. Ivan Island
File:Sozopol, wyspa świętego Iwana (MW) - DSC 0289.jpg, St. Ivan and St. Peter Island
See also
*
List of islands of Bulgaria
This is a list of islands of Bulgaria.
Islands in the Danube
* Aleko Island
* Batin Island
*Belene Island (also known as Persin Island)
* Bogdan Island
* Chayka Island
* Devnya Island
* Dobrina island
* Dovlek Island
* Golya Kutovo Island
* Goly ...
*
St. Anastasia Island
St. Anastasia Island ( bg, остров св. Анастасия, ''ostrov Sv. Anastasiya'', formerly called ''Bolshevik Island'', ''остров Болшевик'') is a Bulgarian islet in the Black Sea. It is located 1.5 km off the coast n ...
*
St. Cyricus Island
St. Cyricus Island ( bg, остров св. Кирик, ''ostrov sv. Kirik''), also known as St. Cyril Island or Sts. Quiricus and Julietta Island is a Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, from Sozopol's Stolets peninsula. It has an area of about ...
*
St. Thomas Island
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Photos of St. Ivan Island at Sozopol.comSatellite image of St. Ivan and St. Peter Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivan
Uninhabited islands of Bulgaria
Islands of the Black Sea
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
Nature reserves in Bulgaria
Landforms of Burgas Province