site.btaNessebar Museum Director Marvakov Calls for State Policy to Safeguard Nessebar

A State policy to protect Nessebar must be adopted, Ancient Nessebar Museum Director Todor Marvakov said at the launch of the July edition of LIK, which focuses on the theme Bulgaria in UNESCO.

He noted that the town’s inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List brings endless advantages and no drawbacks, speaking at the launch of the latest issue of LIK magazine devoted to “Bulgaria in UNESCO”.

Marvakov told BTA that the road to the inclusion was long. Systematic archaeological research began about 110 years ago and has produced a vast collection of finds. The Old Town’s more than ten well-preserved medieval churches, all clustered on a peninsula that is itself a natural landmark, and the Revival-period atmosphere of the narrow streets were equally decisive, he said.

Interest in UNESCO status grew in the 1960s and, with the tireless efforts of local activist Bozhana Chimbuleva, Nessebar was added to the World Heritage List on December 9, 1983. “This matters not only for Nessebar but for Bulgaria as a whole, because we joined an elite club of places such as Salzburg, Venice, Dubrovnik and Vienna,” Marvakov said.

He stressed that Nessebar remains the only Bulgarian town on the list and is “a pearl in the country’s crown”. Local authorities are making efforts, he added, but a national preservation and management plan, which is standard for all UNESCO cities, is still required. Development of this plan is in progress, and he is optimistic it will be implemented soon.

Marvakov said the town is far from the “overtourism” seen in Dubrovnik or Venice and can still pursue an active strategy to attract visitors. “May we one day face Salzburg’s and Barcelona’s problems, but we are not there yet,” he added.

The museum has loaned seven ceramic artifacts to the temporary exhibition “Across the Millennia on the Waves of the Black Sea,” presented during the 47th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Paris from July 6 to 16. The collection features two antefixes with representations of a Gorgon and a female head (5th–4th century BC), a lekythos depicting the head of Dionysus (2nd–1st century BC), two female statuette heads (2nd century BC), a Melian relief showing a Nereid riding a hippocamp (5th century BC), and a sgraffito bowl (13th–14th century). The artifacts will return to Nessebar in August.

“These exhibits are impressive,” Marvakov said. Over the past five years they have travelled to the Louvre, Moscow and, most recently, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where several were restored by experts from the National Archaeological Institute with Museum in Bulgaria.

He pointed out that Nessebar’s value also lies in its surviving churches and the historic ambience of the Old Town. A key local achievement in the past decade was the removal of street trading around the churches. Since 2022, however, Christ Pantocrator and St Archangels Michael and Gabriel have been closed for major conservation, pending financing. Christ Pantocrator alone once saw about 50,000 visitors a year. “The projects and permits are ready, and I am confident a solution will be found soon,” he said.

Listing by UNESCO keeps Nessebar prominent in travel guides, drawing visitors from as far away as New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. Yet Marvakov noted that the town has lost its wealthier tourists: cruise ship calls fell from about 60 in 2014 to none after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. "Cruise tourism was a significant source of revenue, with several thousand people disembarking daily, as the ships were very large. These visitors would tour the museum and purchase souvenirs, but now they are gone," Marvakov said.

The 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee runs until July 16 at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris under the presidency of Bulgaria. As part of the session, Bulgaria will present elements of its cultural and natural heritage. The July issue of LIK magazine, dedicated to Bulgaria and UNESCO, was also officially presented at UNESCO.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on November 16, 1945. Bulgaria became a member on May 17, 1956, the same year its National Commission for UNESCO was established. The Commission coordinates activities between Bulgarian institutions and UNESCO.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is one of the two governing bodies responsible for implementing the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is composed of representatives from 21 countries elected from among the 196 States Parties to the Convention.