Magazia 1 and the port public access zone

Worth a detour

Burgas is a working cargo port, and until 2014 none of it was open to anyone without a pass. A strip of it now is, and Magazia 1 — the oldest covered warehouse on the quay — sits at the centre of it with its riveted Eiffel-type roof structure intact. It holds the tourist information office and a branch of the National Academy of Arts, and the boats to St Anastasia island sail from the wharf outside.

Story

Background

The public access zone opened in 2014, running from the passenger terminal along the quay, with parking, bike racks and a promenade that locals took to immediately. The warehouse was rebuilt in 2016 and kept its roof: a riveted lattice of the kind that gets called Eiffel structure, worth going in to look up at even if nothing is exhibited.

The zone also contains the Sea Station, the Marina Port Burgas, the international congress centre and the PlanetUm science centre. Events fill the warehouse through the year — fairs, concerts, exhibitions — and the tourist office inside is the one place in the city where a person will answer questions in English across a desk.

The practical reason to come is the boat. Sailings to St Anastasia island leave from here, not from the pier in the Sea Garden, and so do the trips to the fishing village at Chengene Skele. A return ticket to the island is about €9.50, with the island's museum charged separately at around €3, and in July and August the sailings fill several days ahead. Weather cancels them without much notice, so telephone before you walk down. Magazia 1 is a five-minute walk from the port gate along Knyaz Aleksandar Batenberg Street, and you can arrive on foot, by bike or by car.