Northern fortress wall

The North Tower of Sozopol is a multilayered medieval archaeological site located in the northern part of the Old Town of Sozopol, in Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Region, in the area between the Viyatarna Melnitsa restaurant and the northern end of the Sozopol Peninsula. The site was archaeologically studied in 2012–2013 and forms part of the fortification system of medieval Sozopol, whose role was to secure access to the town's external port — a harbour located between the islands of St Ivan and St Kirik and Julita, protected from the east by the underwater reef known as Palikari. The excavations revealed the northern entrance of the fortress, fortified to the west by a tower of the bastion type, alongside a partially preserved fragment of the fortress wall. This gate gave access to a small wooden scaffold built on the rocks, which in calm sea conditions allowed direct loading and unloading of cargo at the port — a detail that reveals the practical military-commercial dual function of this part of the fortification. A large portion of the fortress wall to the east of Cape Skamni has been destroyed over the centuries by natural erosion or earthquakes and no longer survives. Immediately inside the northern entrance, in the interior of the gate complex, a small necropolis dated to the 13th–14th century AD was uncovered; the greater part of this burial ground was found in the area between the Viyatarna Melnitsa restaurant and the tower itself, and is probably connected to a medieval church once located south of Morski Skali Street. In the initial stages of the archaeological study of the area, numerous ancient artefacts were also discovered, testifying to the long pre-medieval use of this part of the Sozopol Peninsula.