Odessos - as the ancient called Varna - is a town born by the sea 26 centuries ago. Several cultural strata intertwine in this area- the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the National Revival Period and modern times. On the outskirts of Varna during archeological excavations at the so-called Varna Necropolis, the oldest gold treasure on Earth (4th millenium BC) was found. It is on show at the Archeological Museum in Varna. History does not know another similar cultural monument created by the mysterious people that inhabited those lands long before the Thracians.

What’s more, the discovery of the Varna Necropolis made the historians reconsider thoroughly their ideas about the development of human civilization.
Varna is one of the oldest towns in Europe. Greek seafarers from the town of Milletus reached this shore 6 century BC and attracted by the calm sea they fought it from the local Thracian tribes and founded their own colony. The town got its present name of Varna after the foundation of the Bulgarian State in 681.

Proto-Bulgarians sweeping down from the north, overwhelmed the troops of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV Pogonat at the delta of the River Danube and forced him to plead for peace. The peace treaty was signed here.
Looking at the town from the sea, Varna has been built on several terraces at an altitude of 3 to 20 metres. It seems to emerge from the blue skies and glides down to the very edge of the coast, separated from the sea by long beaches up to 50 metres wide at places.
The moderate continental climate of Varna is strongly influenced by the proximity to the sea. The spring is cool, the summer is moderately warm, the autumn is sunny and calm, and the winter is mild. With its population of over 350 000, Varna is a centre of a region characterized with extremely dynamic development. The first higher school of economics and commerce in Bulgaria was found here in 1921. Today it’s known as the Varna University of Economics.
The magnificent beaches and the hot mineral water springs in Varna and its vicinity were the prerequisites for the development of the town as a tourist centre of world renown. Varna was declared a sea resort in 1926. The modern international airport, the busy sea port, the yachting quays, the motorways and the railway links make travelling to Varna and the region easy, fast and comfortable, turning the town into one of the major transport centres in south-eastern Europe. It is here, over the canal linking the sea with the Lake of Varna, that they have built the largest transport facility on the Balkan Peninsula - the Asparouhov Bridge.