Kavarna (Bulgarian: Каварна, Cavarna) is a Black Sea coastal town in the Dobruja region of northeastern Bulgaria. It lies 64 km northeast of Varna and 49 km from Dobrich on the international road E87. The population is about 12,500. A little yacht port, a fishing base, a spacious beach and a resort complex exist in the town. The landmark Cape Kaliakra is located a few kilometers to the east, as is the tony beachfront resort of Rusalka. An 18-hole golf course with a gated community and marina is being developed nearby.
Etymology

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With the Bulgarian conquest in the 7th century AD, the name Karvuna replaced the similarly-sounding ancient Greek Krounoi as the then name of the neighboring modern town of Balchik; the names Karvunska Hora and Principality of Karvuna were related to that town, which was also mentioned on 14th-century Italian portolan charts with the Italianized form Carbona.

The name Kavarna as referring to this city was first mentioned in the 15th century; perhaps it was a new name influenced phonetically by the preexisting names of Karvuna (which town was already known as Balchik) and Varna.

Geography

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The lay of the land is flat and the seacoast of Kavarna is 42 km long. Along it there are small beaches, including an artificial one. Gore Chirakman with its almost sheer slopes towers above the seacoast. Remains of stronghold walls, moats, buildings, churches and necropolises can be found on the flat plateau. The region is rich in mineral waters.

The area around Kavarna offers opportunities for developing ecotourism and specialized tourism — examination and photography of plants, dolphins and various kinds of fish in the coastal waters. The variety of birds attracts tourists from all parts of the world and contributes to Kaliakra and Yaylata becoming one of the most preferred places in Bulgaria for the development of ornithological tourism.
History

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The town was founded in the 5th century BC by Greek colonials who settled on the Chirakman Plateau in the colony called Byzone (or Bizone). During the third and second century BC the town played an important mediating role between the local Thracian settlements and the Greeks. Despite being unsuitable for wharfing because of its rugged cliffs, the this part of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast was an attractive centre due to the fact that the local people produced and traded with high quality grain.

During the second part of the 1st century BC the ancient town fell in the sea because of a disastrous earthquake. The frontal part of the Chirakman broke off and together with the richest citizens fell into the Black Sea's waters. According to the leader of the finished first part of the underwater archaeological expedition Kavarna 2005 Asen Salkin, the Roman town of Bizone has sunk two times in the sea. For that evidence the located form skin-divers borders of a sunk residential district of the town of Bizone in Kavarna's coast. For the presence of residential buildings the archaeologists judge by the found ashlars and parts...