St. Ivan Island

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / height missing

The island of Sveti Ivan ( Bulgarian Свети Иван "Saint Ivan " ) is the larger of two Bulgarian Black Sea islands, which lie a few kilometers north of Sozopol in the Bay of Sozopol in the Gulf of Burgas. With an area of 0.66 km ² Sveti Ivan is the largest of five Bulgarian Black Sea islands. The island is named after St. Ivan Rilski. Next to her is the smaller island of Sveti Petar.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

In ancient times, the islands were still connected and part of the ancient Greek city of Apollonia. Because there is no written evidence, it is presumed that a natural event has divided the formerly contiguous island. Around the 7th century BC, here was a Thracian sanctuary. In the 4th century BC a large temple complex with a 13 -meter-high bronze statue was erected, which was dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. The statue was in 72 BC brought by the advancing Romans as a trophy to Rome and melted at a later date as part of the Christianization of the empire.

St John the Baptist monastery in the Middle Ages

Even the end of the 5th century was located on the island of a monastery, on the south shore of the island, facing south to the Old Town, 1.2 km away from Sozopol. However, was the monastery basilica "St. Mother of God " ( Bulg Св Богородица. ) Was built after 330 AD on the site of the statue of Apollo. In the Middle Ages it was re- built by the Bulgarian Tsar in the style of Preslawer school and them and also the Byzantine emperors directly subordinated. From the 10th to the 14th century, the monastery was an important cultural center and has been expanded several times. Thus, a second church was built in 1263, which was dedicated to John the Baptist ( Bulg " Св. Иван Предтеча ").

In 1308 it hosted the marriage of the Bulgarian Tsar Theodore Svetoslav II to the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Michael IX with. , Theodora Palaiologina instead. A ducted with gold fibers certificate by the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus is known from 1363, in which the lands of the monastery were described (the village of Sveti Nikola, the monastery and the island of Sveti Kirik ).

After Bulgaria came under the rule of the Ottomans, the monastery on Sveti Ivan was always part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Opel. Two patriarchs were buried here, also has been shown that three patriarchs previously were monks here. The monastery complex had a library, a royal residence and other buildings. The monastery was inhabited both by monks and nuns; This also explains why the monastery had two churches.

1453 the monastery was destroyed by the Turks. In the period 1467-1471 it was rebuilt by the monk Gerwasi. 1593 lived and worked in the island monastery of 150 monks. 1623 and 1629, the monastery was by pirates, primarily invaded Cossacks from the current eastern Ukraine. To prevent further attacks, the Turks destroyed all monasteries and churches in and around Sozopol. Before the destruction of John the Baptist monastery, the monks taking along the monastery library, the altar, the icons and other treasures were in the (now Istanbul) to move the Virgin Mary monastery on the island of Halki in Constantinople Opel.

Modern and contemporary times

1884 a lighthouse was built (42 ° 26 ' 18 "N, 27 ° 41' 26" O42.43833333333327.690555555556 ) on the island otherwise uninhabited.

Today, the island of Sveti Ivan 's nest with the island of Sveti Petar part of a nature reserve in the over 70 endangered bird species. Most are on the Red List of Bulgaria. On Sveti Ivan is the largest colony of herring in Bulgaria.

Excavations

When financed by the Bulgarian and Norwegian state church altar excavations in the former imperial monastery, archaeologists found under the direction of Casimir Popkonstantinow in August 2010, a reliquary with the inscription John the Baptist. In the urn a tooth, as well as parts of a hand and a jaw bone were discovered. According to estimates of Bulgarian archaeologists, it is to be yourself that gets to the relics of John the Baptist, the n in the 4th century AD by Constantine Opel after Sozopol, act. They are kept in the Church St St Cyril and Methodius in Sozopol.