NEW BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY
Doctoral school
in Sozopol
guide for participants
Welcome
Dear participants,
We would like to welcome you to the Seventh Doctoral School in Sozopol. It is an annual event held by the New Bulgarian University to promote intellectual exchange between PhD students.
On this web-page you can find some useful information about the place where the event will be held, as well as some practicalities, which may be helpful during your visit.
Wishing you an excellent and fruitful stay,
The organizing committee
How to get to Sozopol
Sozopol is an ancient city located on the Black sea coast. To get there you may start your journey at the Sofia Central Bus Station. From here the buses to Burgas, the nearest big city to Sozopol, run ten times a day.
When you arrive in Burgas you’ll have to change buses at the Burgas Station to get to Sozopol.
The buses from Burgas to Sozopol leave every hour on the half hour.
You may also take another itinirary. You can arrive to Burgas by plane and after that take a bus to Sozopol.
Sofia
Burgas
Sozopol
The venue, where the school will take place
The conference will be held at the UniCredit Bulbank resort venue. The exact address is the following:
Sozopol, Lazuren bryag street 9.
The programme of the school
You all have the programme of the school. However, you can have look at some updates in it, if you follow the link.
Some more practical information
Money in Bulgaria
The official currency in Bulgaria is called the Lev. In many places you can pay by card, but it's better to have cash with you, as some small shops and restaurants don't accept cards.
You can exchange money in an exchange bureau or in a bank.
Public transport
Transportation nationwide is developed with buses and trains travelling between cities and villages. It is quite easy and convenient to reach most locations with either of these modes of transportation.
Within the bigger cities, there are trams, trolleys, buses, and subway lines to help you get around. Conveniently, the ticket price is the same for all journeys – regardless of how long your commute is.
City transport (Sofia): 0.80€ one way / 2€ daily ticket
For nation-wide tickets check out the public websites:
Buses: avtogari.info
Trains: bdz.bg
Accommodation
Sozopol is divided into two parts, one of which is called the old city and the other - the new city. The conference will be held in the new part of the city (the exact place is indicated on the slide above).
You can find a hotel nearby. Usually the prices in the new city are lower than in the old one.
Recommended hotels:
Aquamarine hotel (Ropotamo street, 10)
Apart Hotel Onegin & Thermal zone (Republicanska street 43)
Hotel Selena (Yani Popov street, 7)
A little bit of history...
Sozopol was founded in 610 BC and used to be called Apollonia, as a tribute to the Greek god Apollo, who was known as a patron of arts, light and the sun. The city was an ancient Greek polis, which was known for its trade connections with Hellada. Apollonia had monumental public buildings and beautiful statues of Greek gods. According to the ancient chronicles, there was a huge statue of Apollo the Healer in the city.
In 72 BC the city was conquered by the Romans. Although it remained an important port, it never regained its past glory.
In the early years of the 2nd century AD the place was influenced by early Christian ideas. When the Roman empire officially adopted Christianity as its main religion in the 4th century AD, the city was renamed to Sozopolis, which means ''the city of salvation". Later on many Christian temples were built there.
After the Bulgarian state was founded in 681 AD, Sozopol remained a part of the Byzantine empire. It was conquered by the Bulgarian Khan Krum in 812 AD, however, throughout the years the Byzantine and Bulgarian rule of this place switched.
In 1453 the city fall under the Ottoman empire and gradually becomes a small fishing village. It was briefly liberated only in 1829 by the Russian Navy, however, then was recaptured again . The end of the Ottoman rule was marked by the Russian-Turkish war in 1877-1878.
Currently the city is a tourist attraction and a popular resort. It is part of the Burgas province and has a little bit less then 5.5 thousand inhabitants.
Contacts
If you need some additional information, please contact the organizing committee. You can send an email
to Ms. Diana Kulchitskaya at dkulchitskaya@nbu.bg or
Prof. Dimitar Vatsov at dvatsov@gmail.com.
Photo credits: all photos are used under the CC license.
