Приморско

A Black Sea town near the Ropotamo reserve, born in the 20th century as a youth resort.

Unlike the neighboring ancient cities, Primorsko is a relatively new settlement. It originated on May 15, 1879, on the Kyupriburun peninsula, when four settlers from the Strandja villages of Zaberovo and Urgari founded the village of Kyupria. In the following decades, Kyupria remained a small fishing village, known for its good natural conditions — extensive beaches and the proximity of the mouth of the Ropotamo River. In 1934, as part of the general policy of replacing the foreign-language names of settlements with Bulgarian ones, the village was renamed Primorsko by decree of Tsar Boris III. In 1940, the area around the mouth of Ropotamo was declared a nature reserve - one of the oldest in Bulgaria, covering longose ​​forests, sand dunes and swamp vegetation on an area of ​​over 1,000 hectares, including the protected areas of Arkutino, Zmiyski Ostrov and Lebedovo Lake. In 1953, Primorsko was declared a national seaside resort, and in 1957, near the town, the construction of the International Youth Center began, which in the following decades received young people from dozens of countries and became a symbol of international youth exchange during socialism. The development of the resort infrastructure in the second half of the 20th century gradually turned Primorsko from a fishing village into one of the famous family and youth resorts on the southern Black Sea coast, with extensive sandy beaches located between two lagoons. On October 16, 1981, Primorsko was granted city status by State Council Decree No. 2190. Today, Primorsko combines relaxed family tourism with the proximity of the Ropotamo nature reserve, the Thracian rock sanctuary of Beglik Tash and the protected dunes of Arkutino, remaining one of the few southern Black Sea villages that have preserved an authentic natural environment in close proximity to its resort area.