Comenius partnership project - MCIMC. GREEK COLONIES ON THE BLACK SEA COAST

1. Mutual Cultural Influence of
Colonization and Migration
GENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOL
“HRISTO BOTEV” - AYTOS

2. Greek colonization
Odessos today Varna

3. Greek expansion
Greek colonization was a large –
scale phenomenon in the VIII -
VI centuries BC. Many Greeks
settled in new areas where
non-Greek polis based.

4. Map of the town
Odessos

5. Reasons for the Greek expansion:
Reasons for the Greek
colonization are two:
 Economic
 Political

6. Why do the Greek chose the Black
Sea area?
According to the
ancient Greek concepts the
Black Sea distinguishes
from Greece in its
geographic location and
climate.They think that
adjacent areas are better
place to live.

7. The first Greek colonies
• The earliest Greek colonies appeared on the
northern and southern Black Sea
coast, because it was the closest to Greece;
• This early Greek colonization on the Black
Sea coast dates from the second
half of VII century;
• Several decades later cities situated on the
coast were Odessos,
Dionysopolis and Tommy.

8. Map of Greek colonies

9. Traditional crafts
The most popular crafts in the
Greek colonies were:
• Pottery - ceramics
• Metal – working – gold, silver
and bronze smelting

10. Some objects found during the
excavations

11. Odessos treasure

12. From Thracian to Greek colonies
Most of the Hellenistic colonies were settled
in next to the ancient Thracian
settlements. This fact is proved by the
excavations done in the areas
of Odessos, Messembria
and Anhialo. The old settlements
were destroyed by the new Greek towns.

13. Fight for influence
The colonies on the
Aegean and Black
Sea coast were fighting all
the time for acquiring large
spheres of influence.

14. Ancient fortress
The ancient Greek towns were well kept
fortresses and important ports.
The earliest fortifications were found in the
towns of Odessos, Apollonia and others.

15. Ancient temples
The most important were the holy
places of various divinities. The most ancient
and popular were the temples of Apollo.
The temple of Darzalsa was found in the
town of Odessos.

16. The ancient colony now is a
modern city
The ancient town Odessos, Varna
of today was founded in the
first half of VI century by
the Phrygian king Astyages in
593-558 as it is mentioned by the
historians Strabon and Pliniy

17. Varna – important port and trade centre
It was created as a trade center. Today's city of
Varna occupies not only the
old area of Odessos, but it spreads out far
away beyond the ancient necropolis.

18. Varna Today

19. General Information
Country Bulgaria
Municipality Varna
Population 350.064
Area 154.236
Altitude 0-170m
Post code 9000-9030
Tel. code 052

20. Varna Archeological Museum
It keeps the oldest
world
gold treasure found
near the
Varna lake in
the twentieth
century.

21. The treasure in the
Archaeological museum

22. Regional History Museum

23. Ethnographic Museum

24. Varna Theatre

25. Asparuhov Bridge

26. End
By: Fikrie Kambur

27. This project has been funded with support
from the European Commission.
This presentation reflects the views only of
the author, and the Commission cannot be
held responsible for any use which may be
made of the information contained therein.