St. Anastasia Island

St. Anastasia Island ranks 4th on the list of the most beautiful islands in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian islet of St. Anastasia is located in the Black Sea. It sits 1.5 kilometers off the shore in Chernomorets, at a height of 12 meters above sea level, and occupies a one-hectare area. It is Bulgaria's sole populated island off the Black Sea coast. Electricity and drinking water are available on the island. It has the name of the old St. Anastasia convent that formerly stood on the site. The monastery had been in existence since the Middle Ages and was rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since 1923, when the island was converted into a prison, it has remained abandoned.

In 1925, Teohar Bakardzhiev led a group of 43 political prisoners (communists and anti-fascists) to revolt and evacuate the island, eventually making their way to the Soviet Union. When the communists took control in 1945, the island was christened Bolshevik Island in their honor. Rangel Valchanov, a Bulgarian film director, based his 1958 film On The Small Island (Bulgarian: "а малки oстров") on this occurrence.

Location: Black Sea, Bulgaria

Area: 0.01 km2