History

Еarly written sources indicate that Odessos / Varna of nowadays / was established as a colony of Millet, a city in Greek Asia Minor, in the second quarter of 6-th century BC. This was the period of the so called Great Greek Collonisation. The name of the city / Odessos – a settlement on water, “Watertown” / is not Greek, it comes from an earlier linguistic layer indicating the existence of an earlier settlement in the area. The city developed as a classical polis type. At a certain time Odessos became one of the most significant ports and trade centres in the Black Sea area. Imported ceramics found on the territory of the ancient town show the main directions of trade relations at the time. In the first decades ties were maintained with the mother city of Millet and the territories nearby, on the Western cost of Asia Minor, but starting with the beginning of the 5-th c. BC, the priority was taken over by Athens.