GENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOL“HRISTO BOTEV” - AYTOS

Mutual Cultural Influence of Colonization and Migration

Greek colonization 

Odessos today Varna

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.

Map of the town Odessos

Reasons for the Greek expansion:

Reasons for the Greek

colonization are two:  Economic Political

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.

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.

Map of Greek colonies

Traditional crafts

The most popular crafts in the Greek colonies were:

• Pottery - ceramics

• Metal – working – gold, silver and bronze smelting

Some objects found during the excavations

Odessos treasure

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.

Fight for influence

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Varna Today

General Information

Country Bulgaria

Municipality Varna

Population 350.064

Area 154.236

Altitude 0-170m

Post code 9000-9030

Tel. code 052

It keeps the oldest world

gold treasure found near the

Varna lake in the twentieth 

century.

Varna Archeological Museum

The treasure in the Archaeological museum

Regional History Museum

Ethnographic Museum

Varna Theatre 

Asparuhov Bridge

End

By: Fikrie Kambur

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.