St. Cyricus Island
Encyclopedia
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, situated 150 metres from Sozopol
Sozopol
Sozopol 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 the Apollonia art and film festival that is named after one of the town's ancient names.The busiest times of the year...
's Stolets peninsula. It has an area of about 0,08 square kilometres and a height of 15 metres. The island is connected to the continent by means of a road and a breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
. Unlike most other Bulgarian Black Sea island, its infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
is completely set up.
The island was named after the medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Monastery of Sts. Quiricus and Julietta, the ruins of which still stand there. The monastery was subordinate to the major stauropegic
Stauropegic
Stauropegic, also rendered stavropegic, stauropegial, or stavropegial is a title or description applied to Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christian monasteries subordinated directly to a Patriarch or Synod, rather than to their local Bishop...
monastery on the nearby St. Ivan Island
St. Ivan Island
St. Ivan Island is the largest Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, with an area of . It lies off the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast near Sozopol, 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....
In 1925-1926, a school for fishermen and sailors was built on the island, where only orphans were allowed to study. The school existed only for a mere 10 years, as in 1936 its base was reorganized to accommodate the Bulgarian Naval Academy. Until recently, the island was a restricted area, where Bulgarian Navy
Bulgarian Navy
The Bulgarian Navy is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults...
ships were anchored.
St. Cyricus Island was finally demilitarized in the 2000s and is to become a centre of international maritime tourism. As it is a national cultural moment, its heritage will be preserved and the new buildings are required to match the characteristic style of Sozopol.
See also
- List of islands of Bulgaria
- St. Anastasia IslandSt. Anastasia IslandSt. Anastasia Island is a Bulgarian islet in the Black Sea. It is located 1.5 km off the coast near Chernomorets, at 12 metres above sea level, and embraces a territory of 0.022 km². It is the only inhabited island off the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.The island is supplied with...
- St. Ivan IslandSt. Ivan IslandSt. Ivan Island is the largest Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, with an area of . It lies off the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast near Sozopol, 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....
- St. Peter IslandSt. Peter Island, BulgariaSt. Peter Island is a small Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, with an area of 0,025 square kilometres and a height of 9 metres above sea level. Also known as Bird Island, it is located in the Bay of Sozopol, close to the St. Ivan and St. Cyricus Islands. As it was not mentioned in any sources...