Overview
Ancient Apollonia Pontica (present-day Sozopol, Bulgaria) is one of the oldest towns on the western Black Sea Coast. The city, founded by Miletian colonists around 610 BCE, was named Apollonia Pontica in honor of the patron deity of Miletus – Apollo. Apollonia became an autonomous and strong independent polis, as well as an important trade center between Ancient Greece and Thrace. Thanks to its strong navy and naturally protected harbors, Apollonia kept control of the major maritime and terrestrial merchant routes along the western Black Sea Coast for several centuries. The city preserved its independence until 72 BCE, when it was conquered, pillaged and burned by the Roman legions of Marcus Lucullus. The city succeeded in restoring its former glory and was known in the Roman world as Apollonia Magna (Great Apollonia). Following the Christian tradition, its name was changed to Sozopol, meaning “town of salvation”, in the 4th century CE. Despite numerous invasions and attacks, the city survived the period of the Great Migration (4th – 7th century CE) and entered the Middle Ages as a focal point of long-lasting Byzantine-Bulgarian conflicts.
The project is focused on the sector of Messarite, located southwest of Sozopol, approx. 2 km from the center of the Old Town. During the initial survey of the area, 29 different features were identified, including walls, buildings and burials. A Franco Bulgarian team excavated the area in 2002-04 and explored six buildings dated between the second half of the 5th century BCE and the beginning of the 3rd century BCE. The team also found parts of an ancient road oriented north-south were also discovered.
Towards the end of the 4th century BCE, the buildings at the Messarite sector were abandoned and destroyed. Shortly thereafter, burials with both inhumations and cremations began appearing in the abandoned ruins. In one area, family plots enclosed with stone walls (periboloi) were identified. The burial structures vary from pits, pithoi, ceramic and limestone sarcophagi, to tile-lined and cist graves while the cremations are in locally made urns. The family plots had indications of traditional funerary rites, including 10 ritual firepits.
These are unique excavations of the broader territory of an ancient Greco-Roman colony in present-day Bulgaria. The results from the excavations along with the traces of mining and metallurgy in the adjacent area will shed light on the economic development of Apollonia Pontica in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (10)
Arial view of 2025 excavation area
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (8)
Ceramic base recovered at the site
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (11)
Organic materials recovered at the site
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (7)
Face-molded jar excavated at the site
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (6)
Students sifting through excavation debris
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (5)
Displaying ceramic finds
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (4)
Excavating a floor surface
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (3)
Overview of excavation area
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (2)
Students working at excavation area
2026 Bulgaria Apollonia carousel (1)
Standing ceramic features at the site
Instructor(s)
All field school directors are experts in their field and passionate about their work. To discuss the suitability of this program for your career goals – whether within or outside academia – you are invited to contact the directors directly. For a broader discussion which ARC program to choose, you are welcome to contact our staff directly – you can do that through our “Contact Us” page.
Testimonials & Program evaluation
Student Fees (Tuition)
What is Covered
- DEPOSIT IS PART OF TOTAL TUITION COST
- Costs of Instruction
- Cost of Academic Credit Units
- Cost of Health Insurance
- Liability & Accident Insurance
- Accomedations, Breakfast & Lunch
Read Before You Pay
- Application: You must apply online for this program – application is free
- Deposit: A $300 nonrefundable deposit (part of the total tuition cost) is required to secure a space in the program
- Credit Card Fee: Payments with credits cards incur 3% processing fee
- Late Fee: A $100 Late Fee will be added to the program costs if tuition is not paid in full by payment deadline
- Cancellation Policy: Carefully read our Cancellation Policy before committing to attending our programs
- Trip Cancellation Insurance: Trip cancellation insurance is not provided by ARC. Such policies have changed due to Covid 19. If you wish to purchase an insurance policy that covers pandemic contingencies, explore Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) plans. Insuremytrip or Travel Guard are possible websites where you may explore different insurance policies.
Accommodations
Accommodation for the duration of the project is at Hotel Polina Beach which offers comfortable rooms with two to three beds, air conditioning, a minibar, TV and Wi-Fi. The hotel is in the new part of Sozopol, a 15 min walk to the Old Town Quarter, the Archaeological Museum.
Diet
This program provides daily breakfast and lunch (lunch pack for the field trips), as well as the official welcome and farewell dinners. Students are responsible for their own dinner. Sozopol offers a variety of restaurants that can meet everyone’s preferences and dietary requirements – from fast food options to cozy gourmet restaurants. The average meal price (soup/salad, main dish and dessert) can cost between $10 to $20.
Travel Information
We suggest you hold purchasing your airline ticket until six (6) weeks prior to departure date. Natural disasters, political changes, weather conditions and a range of other factors may require the cancelation of a program. The ARC typically takes a close look at local conditions 6-7 weeks prior to program beginning and makes a Go/No Go decision by then. Such time frame still allows for the purchase deeply discounted airline tickets while protecting students from potential loss of airline ticket costs if the ARC is forced to cancel a program.
There will be two meeting points for this program:
- Arrive at Sofia International Airport (SOF) on the first day of the program (Sun) by 12:30pm. A Group transfer will be arranged from Sofia airport for an additional fee (will be announced up to three weeks before arrival) to Hotel Polina Beach (Sozopol). Travel time is about 5 hours.
- Arrive to Hotel Polina Beach (Sozopol) on your own, on the first day of the program (Sun) by 5:30pm. Many bus lines connect Sozopol with both Burgas Airport (BOJ – about 1 hour from Sozopol) and Sofia Airport (SOF – about 5 hours from Sozopol).
Visa Information
There are no visa requirements for U.S. citizen travelling to Bulgaria, if they do not stay longer than 3 months. Passport’s expiration date should exceed the stay by at least 3 months.
Citizens of other countries are asked to check the Bulgarian Embassy website page at their home country for specific visa requirements.
Meeting Point
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| May 31, 2026 | 12:30pm | Sofia International Airport, Terrminal 2 Arrival area |
| May 31, 2026 | 5:30pm | Hotel Polina Beach (Sozopol) |
If you missed your connection or your flight is delayed, please call, text or email project director(s) immediately. A local emergency cell phone number will be provided to all enrolled students.
Safety
Our primary mission is student education. Traveling and conducting field work involves risk and students interested in participating in any field schools must weigh whether the potential risk is worth the value of education earned. While risk is inherent in everything we do, we do not take risk lightly. We engage in intensive review of each field school location prior to approval and continue to monitor conditions on the ground to ensure a safe and wholesome education experience.
Students attending our international programs are covered by a comprehensive Health Insurance Policy that covers physical illness or injury, mental or chronic conditions and medical evacuation – if needed. This insurance policy has no deductibles and 100% of the costs are covered up to $250,000 (for more, see here). In addition, we provide Political & Natural Disaster Evacuation policy, which allows us to remove students from program location if conditions change.
Students attending our domestic programs (within the US) must have their own health insurance. Program directors are familiar with local authorities and if in need of evacuation, local emergency services and/or law enforcement will be notified and activated.
We have an explicit and robust Harassment & Discrimination Policy, outlined on our Health & Safety page. If students feel they cannot discuss personal safety issues with program staff, they are welcome to call the ARC emergency hotline and talk directly with an ARC staff member.
Call (+1 323 740-1805) or email (admin@anthroctr.org) if you have questions about the safety of any program.