Time zone EET (UTC+2) Elevation 199 m Local time Tuesday 11:18 PM | Postal Code 9600 Population 12,196 (31 Dec 2009) Area code 0579 | |
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Weather 3°C, Wind S at 11 km/h, 100% Humidity | ||
Balchik 28 5 2016 dji phantom 4
Balchik (Bulgarian: Балчик, Romanian: Balcic) is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is located in Dobrich Province and is 42 km northeast of Varna. The town sprawls scenically along hilly terraces descending from the Dobruja plateau to the sea.
Contents
- Balchik 28 5 2016 dji phantom 4
- Map of Balchik Bulgaria
- Travel bulgaria 2013 balchik botanical garden of eden
- Etymology
- History
- Art
- Sports
- Trivia
- Twin towns and sister cities
- References
Map of Balchik, Bulgaria
Travel bulgaria 2013 balchik botanical garden of eden
Etymology
The town is named after the medieval ruler Balik, brother of Dobrotitsa, after who is named the city of Dobrich.
History
Founded as a Thracian settlement, it was later colonised by the Ionian ancient Greeks with the name Krounoi (renamed as Dionysopolis, after the discovery of a statue of Dionysus in the sea). Later became a Greek-Byzantine and Bulgarian fortress. Under the Ottoman Empire, the town came to be known with its present name, which perhaps derived from a Gagauz word meaning "small town". Another opinion is that its actual name derived from that of a local noble - Balik.
After the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, Balchik developed as centre of a rich agricultural region, wheat-exporting port, and district (okoliya) town, and later, as a major tourist destination with the beachfront resort of Albena to its south. The ethnic composition gradually changed from mostly Gagauz and Tatar/Turkish to predominantly Bulgarian. According to an estimate by Bulgarian historian Rayna Gavrilova the Bulgarian population before 1878 was only around 10%. According to the latest 2011 census data, Balchik's ethnic composition is the following:
After the Second Balkan War, in 1913, the town was renamed Balcic and became part of the Kingdom of Romania. It was regained by Bulgaria during World War I (1916–1919), but Romania restored its authority when hostilities in the region ceased. In 1940, just before the outbreak of World War II in the region, Balchik was ceded by Romania to Bulgaria by the terms of the Craiova Treaty.
During Romania's administration, the Balchik Palace was the favourite summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania and her immediate family. The town is the site of Marie's Oriental villa, the place where her heart was kept, in accordance with her last wishes, until 1940 (when the Treaty of Craiova awarded the region back to Bulgaria). It was then moved to Bran Castle, in central Romania. Today, the Balchik Palace and the adjacent Balchik Botanical Garden are the town's most popular landmarks
During the inter-war period, Balchik was also a favourite destination for Romanian avant-garde painters, lending his name to an informal school of post-impressionist painters – the Balcic School of Painting - which is central in the development of Romanian 20th-century painting. Many works of the artists composing the group depict the town's houses and the Turkish inhabitants, as well as the sea.
Art
Held each year since 1991, "The Process – Space Art Festival" is an annual international festival of Contemporary Art, which takes place over two weeks in June.
Sports
Balchik is becoming well known internationally as a golfing destination. There are three 18-hole championship golf courses within the local vicinity, two designed by Gary Player - Thracian Cliffs GC and BlackSeaRama GC; and one designed by Ian Woosnam - Lighthouse GC. A fourth 18-hole golf course is currently in the planning stages.
Trivia
Twin towns and sister cities
Balchik is twinned with: