THE HISTORICAL TOWN OF BALCHIK

The town has many historic and natural tourist attractions together with its ancient atmosphere that has been preserved for centuries. It sprang to life about 2600 years ago as the Greek city of Cruny. ‘Cruny’ means mineral springs, underground rivers, or source. Later on, during the reign of Alexander the Great the city became known as Dionisopol (City of the Greek god Dionysus). There are numerous remains of ancient fortifications, giving evidence of the size of the area occupied by the town in the past.

One of the places worth visiting is the Balchik Palace. The official name of the palace was the Quiet Nest Palace. It was constructed for the needs of Queen Marie of Romania during the Romanian control of the region between 1926 and 1937. The palace complex consists of a number of residential villas, a smoking hall, a wine cellar, a power station, a monastery, a holy spring, a chapel and many other buildings, as well as most notably a park that is today a state-run botanical garden.