St. Ivan Island

Worth a detour

Two thirds of a square kilometre of rock off Sozopol, and the largest island Bulgaria has in the Black Sea — which tells you something about the Bulgarian coast. There is no ferry and you are unlikely to land. What you get is the silhouette from the old town walls, or a boat trip that circles it, and the knowledge of what was dug up there.

Story

Background

A Christian monastery was founded on the island in the fifth or sixth century, on top of an earlier Roman sanctuary. Excavation has uncovered two churches, a residence, a library, monks' cells and part of the fortified wall with its gate. There has been a light at the seaward end since 1884, and the present concrete tower went up in 1911.

In August 2010 archaeologists lifted a small reliquary from beneath an altar. It held fragments of bone; radiocarbon dating placed them in the first century AD and the excavators connected them with John the Baptist. The identification cannot be proved and is not universally accepted, but the dating and the Middle Eastern origin held up under testing, and a quiet island dig became international news for a season.

The island has been protected since 1993. Something like seventy-two bird species nest on it, and together with neighbouring St Peter it holds the largest yellow-legged gull colonies in the country, which is the practical reason landings are restricted. Boat trips out of Sozopol harbour go round it through the summer; from the southern wall of the old town it sits clear on the horizon, and it is at its best in the last hour of light.