Kavarna is a small port town with a broad outlet on the Black Sea to the Eastern and Southern sides. The coastline combines cliffs with beaches and abrasive formations such as caves and fissures. Kavarna is one of the ancient towns on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. In the past it had been situated closer to the sea, but after an earthquake the old town Byzone had been partly drowned and later, in Roman times, it was rebuilt at a new place, 3 km inland. During the times of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom the town was an administrative centre of Dobrudza.
     Cape Kaliakra is situated 12 km east of Kavarna, and 60 km north-east of Varna. It has sheer cliffs that drop 70 m to the sea below. The settlement has changed its name several times – Tetrasiada, Akre and then Kaliakra - "beautiful cape". According to one of the many legends, the unusual pink colour of the rocks comes from the blood of the defenders of the fortress, built in the 4th century BC and later used by the Romans and the Byzantines. It was further fortified by Boyar Balik. During the mediaeval times it served as a dervish monastery. Today there are quite enough remains of those ancient settlements. Part of the material culture can be seen exhibited in a small archaeological museum sheltered under a limestone cave.

     Legends

     The best-known legend tells us, that 40 girls, the sole survivors of a Turkish attack, tied their plaits of hair and jumped from the rocks to their deaths so that the Turks could not convert them to Islam. Today an obelisk stands near an opening in the rock, called "the gate of the 40 maidens" to memorialize this event. Another legend tells of St. Nikolay, patron saint of sailors. As he ran towards the sea to escape his Turkish pursuers, the land kept stretching under his feet – but to no avail, as he was caught and killed. At the very tip of the cape a small chapel was built, restored later in 1993, to mark his symbolic grave. Today the cape of Kaliakra is a peaceful nature reserve, where hooded cormorants nests, seals and dolphins cavort in the sea, and pink starlings and rock blackbirds frequent the cliffs and caves.