Chernomorets is a town on the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 coast of southeastern Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. Administratively part of Sozopol Municipality

Sozopol municipality

The Sozopol Municipality is located in the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and borders Burgas Municipality and Primorsko Municipality. The coast stretches 51 km of which 17.1 km are excellent beaches. There are many small bays and peninsulas as well as several isles...

, Burgas Province

Burgas Province

-Municipalities:The Burgas province contains 13 municipalities . The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village , and the population of each as of 2009.-Demography:The Burgas province had a population of 423,608 -Municipalities:The Burgas...

, Chernomorets is a popular seaside resort

Seaside resort

A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...

.

Chernomorets lies some 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) southeast of the provincial capital Burgas

Burgas

-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...

, at the south coast of Burgas Bay

Burgas Bay

Burgas Bay is the largest bay of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and one of the largest ones in the Black Sea. It is 41 km at its widest and 25 m at its deepest, reaching 31 km at its greatest innermost extent, approximately where the Bulgarian city and major port of Burgas is located. Other towns...

, the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coastline. White and golden sandy beaches occupy approximately 130 km of the 378 km long coast...

's largest bay. Until 1951, Chernomorets was known as Sveti Nikola (Свети Никола, "Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

", or in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 as Άγιος Νικόλαος, Agios Nikolaos). The current name, Chernomorets, means "Black Sea man".

Previously a village, it received town privileges

Town privileges

Town privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...

 on 2 December 2009 on the grounds that it met the demographic and infrastructure requirements due to its resort status. The town has a primary school, a kindergarten and a cultural centre (chitalishte

Chitalishte

A chitalishte is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building which fulfils several functions at once, such as a community centre, library and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people of all ages can enroll in foreign language, dance, music and other courses....

).

Chernomorets lies at the low northern slopes of the Strandzha

Strandzha

Strandzha is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey, in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, the lowlands near Burgas to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Its highest peak is Mahya Dağı in Turkey, while the...

 mountain, between Cape Emine

Cape Emine

Cape Emine is a headland located at the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is located 49 miles south of Varna, 34 miles north of Burgas and 9 miles south of Obzor. It forms the tip of Stara Planina. Cape Emine is said to be Bulgaria's stormiest cape....

 to the north and the Arkutino marshland to the south. To the east of Chernomorets is St. Ivan Island

St. Ivan Island

St. Ivan Island is the largest Bulgarian island in the Black Sea, with an area of . It lies off the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast near Sozopol, a town with rich history and a popular tourist place, and is separated by a strait several hundred metres long from the small neighbouring St. Peter Island....

, with Sozopol

Sozopol

Sozopol is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for the Apollonia art and film festival that is named after one of the town's ancient names.The busiest times of the year...

 to the southeast of the town along the seaside road.

Chernomorets has an Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 church dedicated to the town patron Saint Nicholas. A garden called the "Garden of Eden

Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...

" has been landscaped just in front of it.