South East Europe
Via Pontica
Cultural Roads
Via Pontica is the cultural road, spreading over the west and south coasts of the Black sea. It winds along the water of the water basin from the picturesque delta of the Danube reaching the foothills of Caucasus, crossing Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Via Pontica tells us about the meeting among sea cultures – Greeks, Vikings, Venetians, Genoese, with the land cultures of Skits, Thracians, Daces, Goths, Bulgarians, Slavs, Romans. These stories of past periods, reaching us through the ancient myths, are now being retold by the cultural and historical heritage on these coasts. The straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles play also the role of bridges over the Aegean and the Black sea. Evidence for that is the prehistoric type of sanctuary – the dolmens, scattered all over Strandzha Mountain, as an expression of their relation to the Mediterranean megalithic cultures (megalith means in Greek big stone). Through the water bridge, make their way to the north the nautical cultures of the southern Mediterranean. While, the Viking Routes follow from the North the big European rivers – Wista, Dneper and Don, to conquer the waters of the Black Sea and continue there from to the South, reaching the Mediterranean to the South, and the Caspian sea to the East. Cultural influences from Constantinople during the periods of late Antiquity and the Middle Ages could be found in the building structure of the Christian temples along the Black Sea coast.
Along the axis of Via Pontica one could discover traces of prehistoric settlements – Yaylata, the rock sanctuaries and dolmens of Strandzha, Asagi Pirnar Kirklareli, ancient towns – Histria; Medieval fortresses – Kaliakra, Pliska, Preslav. The meeting of various civilizations determined also the foundation of distinctive historical town, scattered along the cultural corridor – Odessos (Varna), Messembria (Nessebar), Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol), Byzantion (Istanbul), Safranbolu, Trapezunt (Trabzon). There one could follow the logic of cultural continuity in their age-long development.
Via Pontica is also the second largest European migration road of the birds that nestle in North East Europe and fly to the South during the winter period. Every spring and autumn the invisible sky highway – Via Pontica gets full of thousands of flying travellers. Arranged in chains, changing smoothly in the air, the numerous birds fly over the Danube delta, the Srebarna reserve, the unique bay forests around the mouths of Kamchia and Ropotamo rivers, the Bosporus and Dardanelle straits, to direct to Africa.
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