Sozopol

The city erected, in 5th century BC, a colossal statue of the god Apollo which was 13 m (43 ft) tall. It was created by the sculptor Calamis. In 72 BC, the Romans under Marcus Lucullus captured the city and moved the sculpture to Rome on the Capitolium.[8][9] Pliny the Elder wrote that the statue cost 500 talents.[10] It was lost during the Early Christian period.

Recent excavations have revealed parts of the ancient city including:[11]

• A temple complex (late 6th - early 5th century BC) presumably belonging to the famous temple of Apollo;
• An oval altar and a temple from the Hellenistic period (4th century BC);
• A tholos
• A copper foundry

In addition, archaeologists discovered a Greek bucranium amulet from the 5th century BC.[12] A shrine of goddesses Demeter and Persephone from the 6th century BC.[13]

Many objects from antiquity, included imported luxury ceramics, red-figure pottery, sgraffito pottery, pottery lamps, loom weights, spindle parts, coins, amphora seals, arrow coins, ceramic game pieces, adornments. One of the most impressive finds was an Attica red-figure pottery krater, depicting the myth about Oedipus and the Sphinx. The krater is dated to the second quarter of the 5th century BC. Excavation teams also discovered, a ceramic askos dated back to the second half of the 6th century BC, and was “made in the tradition of grey monochrome Aeolian pottery", a 6th-century BC home and other antiquity buildings, pottery and coins from both the antiquity period and the Middle Ages. Furthermore, have also identified the ruins of a medieval Christian chapel and have discovered several graves from a medieval necropolis that was used in two time periods – in the 11th century AD and then again in the 13th – 14th century AD. In a grave from the 11th century, the researchers have found two small crosses – one made of bronze and another one made of bone. They have also discovered three pits hewn into the rocks from the Classical Period of Ancient Greece containing materials from the 5th – 4th century BC.[14]

Later, they discovered an ancient metallurgical plant from the 6th century BC located at an antiquity copper mine. While the ancient copper mining near Sozopol has been well researched, for the first time archaeologists have discovered ceramic kilns for melting the copper ore right on the edge of the mine in what resembles an Antiquity metallurgy facility.[15]

In 2021, archaeologists discovered a terracotta relief fragment, depicting marching Greek hoplites. The relief is a piece of a larger depiction, other parts of which were discovered in 2018 and 2019.[16]

Traditional wooden architecture dominates the Old Town

Sozopol was Christianized early. Bishops are recorded as resident there from at least 431. At least eight bishops are known:[17] Athanasius (431), Peter (680), Euthymius (787) and Ignatius (869); Theodosius (1357), Joannicius, who became Patriarch of Constantinople (1524), Philotheus (1564) and Joasaph (1721).

From being suffragan to the archbishopric of Adrianople, it became in the 14th century a metropolitan see without suffragan sees; it perhaps temporarily disappeared with the Turkish conquest, but reappeared later; in 1808 the Greek Orthodox Church united it to the see of Agathopolis. The titular resided at Agathopolis.

Eubel (Hierarchia catholica medii ævi, I, 194) mentions four Latin bishops of the 14th century.

Fishermen's boats in Sozopol

The bishopric is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees as Sozopolis in Haemimonto and as a suffragan of Hadrianopolis in Haemimonto.

Art flourished in the Christian era. The ancient icons and magnificent woodcarving in the iconostases are a remarkable accomplishment of the craftsmanship of these times. The architecture of the houses in the old town from the Renaissance period makes it a unique place to visit today.

During archaeological excavations in 2012 the remains of a skeleton pierced with an iron bar in the heart were found. It is believed that those are the remains of the local nobleman Krivich (or Krivitsa), ruler of the fortress of Sozopol (castrofilax). Believed to be a very cruel person, the locals made sure that he would not come back to haunt the city after his death by piercing him with an iron bar in the chest. There are more than 100 medieval funerals similar to that of Krivitsa found all over Bulgaria. The remains were pierced with either an iron or a wooden bar through the chest to make sure that the dead will not rise from the grave as a vampire.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sozopolis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• newdavent.org
• The news about Sozopol

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sozopol.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Apollonia".