Description of the attraction
The ruins of the ancient Roman settlement of Deultum are located on the outskirts of the village of Debelt, 17 kilometers from Burgas. The Roman colony was founded at the end of the first century by order and under the direction of the Emperor Vespasian. On the territory occupied by modern Bulgaria, this settlement was the only colony of free Romans. Nearby there was a port on the lake, which today is called Mandrenskoye.
Over the next three centuries, the settlement grew, turned into a city - one of the richest in the region. In the second century, under Marcus Aurelius, the city was fortified with fortress walls. Deultum was built according to the hippodamous scheme, when the streets are located in accordance with the cardinal points and intersect at right angles. The city was equipped with water supply and sewerage.
In the 6th century, Deultum becomes an important element in the defense system against barbarian invasions. Fortification that covered an area of 5000 sq. m, protected the city from the invasions of the Slavs, which began in the second half of the 6th century. At the beginning of the 9th century, Khan Krum, the Bulgarian ruler, evicted all local residents from the city and turned it into a fortress, which had important functions of an outpost, being a border point between Byzantium and Bulgaria.
In the 13-14 centuries, due to the rise in the level of the Black Sea water, this area began to become swampy. The life of the city gradually faded away, and since the 14th century there is no mention of it in historical sources.
As a result of archaeological research in this area, several treasures were found, as well as ceramics and statues, which are kept in the archaeological museum in Burgas. The fortress was declared an architectural monument in 1965, and according to the results of the electronic voting in 2011, Deultum was included in the list of Bulgarian wonders.
