
A beach at the mouth of the
Veleka, Sinemorets
'Sinemorets' (; also ''Sinemorec'', ''Sinemoretz'', "place on the blue sea") is a village on the
Black Sea coast of
Bulgaria, located in the very southeast of the country close to the border with
Turkey, where the river
Veleka flows into the sea. Sinemorets is part of
Tsarevo municipality,
Burgas Province, and has a population of 216
as of September 2005. Its coordinates are .
Ceramic fragments from the 5th-4th century BC have been found in the Potamya inlet south of the village, as well as anchors and metal casing of an ancient ships. The village was first mentioned in an
Ottoman document in 1496; the population then consisted of only 16
Christian families, as the attacks of
sea pirates had forced many to move to inland
Strandzha. According to
Austrian diplomat Wenzel von Bronjar who sailed near the village, in 1766 it had 17 houses and its population mainly engaged in wood export. According to another westerner, Enelholm, in 1824 it had 30 houses and was located somewhat inland, with only its pier on the coast. Again, the low population and the location is explained by the attacks of the
Caucasian Laz pirates.
After the
Balkan Wars, the village and the surrounding area were ceded to Bulgaria. According to the Mollov-Kafandaris Agreement of 1927, the entire
Greek population of the village moved to
Greece and was substituted with Bulgarian refugees from
Eastern Thrace. In 1926, it had 68 households. The current name dates back to 1934; prior to that, the village was known as ''Galadzaki'' (in
Greek) or ''Kalanca'' (in
Turkish). The name ''Sinemorets'' is a direct translation of the Greek original, which is derived from γαλάζιος (''galazios'', "azure"). Since 1963, Sinemorets is officially a sea resort, and has developed rapidly after access to the border zone was allowed.
References
★
Krajbrežna Strandža: Toponimi i hidronimi, , Stojan, RajÄevski, Universitetsko izdatelstvo "Sv. Kliment Ohridski", 2001,