ENTRY TYPE

Geographical Terms

SUMMARY

Kaliakra is a fortress and a settlement located on the headland bearing the same name on the western coast of Pontos Euxeinos (the Black Sea). In the antiquity it was a fortified settlement “chorion” influenced to a very little degree by the “Hellenistic colonization” /VII c. B.C./ In 323 B.C. Kaliakra was conquered by Lysimachos the ruler of Thrace. In the 15 c. the fortress and the settlement were included in the boundaries of the Roman province of Scythia Minor and from the middle of the IV c. they were within the boundaries of Byzantium. At the time of the emperors Valens [Ουάλης] and Justinian I [527-565] the importance of Kaliakra in this part of Pontos Euxeinos increased and became stronger. The Bulgarian state founded in the second half of the VII c. was in frequent conflicts with Byzantium due to which Kaliakra changed its political allegiance several times. As a result in X-XII c. the fortress and the settlement went into decline. From the second half of the XIV c. Kaliakra again gained its economic and political prominence especially from 1336 to 1385 when it was the capital of the ruler of Dobrudzha despot Dobrotica. It grew into a transmarine port for trade in grain and other agricultural products exported predominantly by Venice and Genoa. At the end of the XIV and the beginning of the XV c. Kaliakra was conquered by the army of the sultan and included in the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. In XVI c. the settlement declined permanently and was abandoned by the local population. In relation to church affiliations Kaliakra, through the Metropolis of Varna, always belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Other Names

Tirizis, Tirisis, Trissa, Akrai, Akra, Cal(l)iakra