The Secrets of Nessebar

The Church of Christ Pantocrator is a medieval Eastern Orthodox church in the eastern Bulgarian town of Nesebar (medieval Mesembria), on the Black Sea coast of Burgas Province. Part of the Ancient Nesebar UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Church of Christ Pantocrator was constructed in the 13th–14th century and is best known for its lavish exterior decoration. The church, today an art gallery, survives largely intact and is among Bulgaria's best preserved churches of the Middle Ages.

Nesebar is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality. Often referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea", Nesebar is a rich city-museum defined by more than three millennia of ever-changing history. The small city exists in two parts separated by a narrow man-made isthmus with the ancient part of the settlement on the peninsula (previously an island), and the more modern section (i.e. hotels, later development) on the mainland side. The older part bears evidence of occupation by a variety of different civilisations over the course of its existence. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations and seaports on the Black Sea, in what has become a popular area with several large resorts—the largest, Sunny Beach, is situated immediately to the north of Nesebar. Nesebar has on several occasions found itself on the frontier of a threatened empire, and as such it is a town with a rich history. Due to the city's abundance of historic buildings, UNESCO came to include Nesebar in its list of World Heritage Sites in 1983.

Archaeological museum in Nessebar is created in 1956 and its first exposition was in St. John the Baptist church. In 1994 the museum was moved in a new building, constructed on a special project of architect Hristo Koev. An exposition “Nessebar during the Ages” there containing numerous cultural monuments, presents the history of Antic Messambria and Medieval Nessebar. The exhibition area of the museum includes a lounge and four exhibition halls. A diploma certifying the entry of Old Nessebar in the list of World cultural heritage is on the wall of the lounge. This act was accomplished December 9th, 1983 on the VII session of the Committee of World Heritage, hold in Florence, Italy.

The Church of St. John the Baptist is a domed cruciform church, built of undressed stone. It is one of the best preserved churches in Nessebar. It is 12 meters long and 10 meters wide. The structure of the church consists of two cylindrical vaults which intersect in the center of the composition. The masonry is crushed stone and pebbles and the facades were probably smoothly plastered. It was built in the 11th century. It has no narthex. The altar space consists of three semi-circular apses. Four massive pillars support the dome and form the cross. Inside the church the walls are smooth and unbroken. The exterior is simple without decorative niches and ceramic plaques, typical of the ornamental style. Bricks were used as a decorative element over the entrance, in the jagged cornices and around the windows. Some frescoes in the church have been preserved dating from later periods. The faded portraits of the donor and his contemporaries on the southern wall and the fragments beneath the dome date from the 14th century and the others are from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Church of St. Stephen is a former Orthodox Church in Nessebar, Eastern Bulgaria, which is now turned into a museum. It is part of architectural and historical reserve in the city, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the 100 national tourist sites. The building consists of a three-nave basilica with dimensions 12.1 x 9.5 m, and served as the cathedral church of the metropolitan center in the province of Nessebar. The church has been restored and enlarged several times and is difficult to be dated exactly. The eastern part is the oldest and probably dates from the 11th century. Some centuries later the church was enlarged by adding a new structure to the west. The western wall was demolished and the present narthex was built. The church was timber-roofed. The exterior is rich in design. The eastern and the western façades are crowned with pediments in the form of trefoil arches. The eastern façade is more elaborate. It comprises three high apses, the middle of which rises above the side ones. All three are decorated with ceramic plaques. A colourful effect is achieved by the mixed masonry of stone and bricks, without keeping to any fixed pattern. The decoration of the façade is the reason for defining this church as an example of the ornamental architectural style.

The Church of the Holy Saviour or Sveti Spas in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Nesebar, Bulgaria, is a 17th-century church building of 1609, 11.70 m long and 5.70 m wide, consisting of a single nave and apse. Although small, it is notable for its early 17th century wall paintings representing scenes from the Life of Christ and the Holy Virgin, with a painting of the Virgin Platytera in the apse. The tombstone of the Byzantine princess Mataissa Cantacuzina, formerly here, is now in the Nesebar Archaeological Museum. The church itself is de-consecrated and is also used as a museum.