Bulgarian Ports
Infrastructure Company

The striking lights of the Bulgarian Black Sea lighthouses “flashed” also at the other end of the world. Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI Co.) described the exciting story of the Bulgarian light signs at the World Lighthouse Heritage Exhibition in Incheon, Republic of Korea. It was held during the 19^th IALA Conference 2018 on “Successful voyages, Sustainable planet – a New Era for Marine Aids to Navigation in a Connected World” in the period May 27–June 2, 2018 and presented the historic and cultural significance of headlights from all over the world. The General Assembly of IALA adopted the Incheon Declaration, which aims to add new meaning to marine lighthouses as an important part of the world cultural heritage that will mark a new stage in the history of IALA.

Visitors to the Exhibition, members of IALA, as well as representatives of the general public, had the exclusive opportunity to learn about the impressive history of the oldest navigation facilities. They were fascinated by the beauty and technical parameters of the Bulgarian lighthouses: the lighthouse in Burgas firstly “flashed“ in 1899 г. – several years before the official opening of the port, the emblematic lighthouse St Nicholas Wonderworker  in Varna, the lighthouse of Cape Kaliakra, impressive by its strong declivity at sea and its steep cliffs, the lighthouse of Cape Emine – one of the most strategic sea lights in the Black Sea, the northern Bulgarian lighthouse, as well as the majestic lighthouses at Cape Galata, the island of St. Anastasia, Maslen Nos and at Ahtopol. BPI Co. presented also the modern lighthouses of 21^st century – the coastal centres for vessel traffic management and information services in Burgas and Varna.

Mystic and enigmatic, majestic and respectful, symbols of human civilization and progress, security and prosperity, expectation, hope and romance, the luminous towers have always attracted the curiosity of youngsters and adults. In the magic of the Bulgarian headlights dived even the youngest visitors. The children were charmed by the fascinating photos of the lighthouses that illuminate the way of the ships in the far and unknown for them land, called Bulgaria.

Since mid- 1909 the lighthouses and navigational signs along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have been under the care of the Bulgarian state. At that time, the headlights at Shabla, Kaliakra, Galata, Emine, St. Ivan, St. Anastasia, Burgas and Varna have already been built. In the period 1910 – 1939 new headlights were built in Evksinograd, Maslen Nos, St. Atanas, Nessebar, Pomorie, Tsarevo, Ahtopol, Sozopolг. In 1928, a programme for modernization of all lighthouses along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast was prepared. Some of them are administrated by BPI Co.

In 2016, the documentary series of the Bulgarian National Television “Lights in the Infinite” was filmed with the support of BPI Co, which tells unknown facts from the history of some of the oldest navigation facilities along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. In June this years, the book of BPI Co. Lighthouses and other means of navigation support on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast (1878 – 2018 г.) will be published with the authors Atanas Panayotov and Marina Krasteva, who will present all the facilities for navigation, targeting and regulating the vessel traffic along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in a larger fullness than all previous publications.