The Republic of Bulgaria is a nation of southeastern Europe bordering Romania to the north, Turkey to the southeast, and Greece to the south. As an empire founded in 681 it ruled a large part of the Balkans for centuries before falling under the rule of the Ottoman Empire around 1400. It became an independent nation again in 1878 but the southeastern part of the country, including the Burgas area, remained nominally in the Empire under the name Eastern Rumelia until 1886. Bulgaria has about 200 km (125 mi) of coastline facing east on the Black Sea. The principal ports are Varna in the north and Burgas in the south. In recent years the country's Black Sea beaches have become popular vacation destinations for Eastern Europeans and the coastline has come to be called the Bulgarian Riviera. Bulgaria is divided into 27 provinces (oblasti) and the provinces are subdivided into municipalites (obshtina). The Cyrillic script, created in Bulgaria during 9th century, is used to write the Bulgarian language. The Bulgarian word for a lighthouse is far (фар). Nos (нос) is a cape, ostrov (остров) is an island, reka (река) is a river, and pristanishte (пристанище) is a port or harbor. Since the end of the Communist era (1945-1991) a number of place names that had been changed under Communist rule have reverted to the original forms. The Communist era names are shown in braces {}. Aids to navigation in Bulgaria are maintained by the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company. Special thanks to Javier Ortuño Garcia, who visited Bulgaria in 2019 and provided information and photos for this page. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume N of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
|
|
Dobrich Province Lighthouses
|
|
Kavarna Light, Kavarna, July 2019 photo copyright Javier Ortuño Garcia; used by permission |
Varna Province Lighthouses
|
|
|
1987 Nos Galata Light, Varna, July 2019 photo copyright Javier Ortuño Garcia; used by permission |
Burgas Province Lighthouses
|
Cape Emine Light, Emona, August 2019 photo copyright Javier Ortuño Garcia; used by permission |
|
|
|
Ahtopol Light, Ahtopol, August 2009 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Stefan Vatev (no longer online) |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Romania | South: European Turkey
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Created January 12, 2007. Checked and revised September 26, 2023. Lighthouses: 32. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.