August 31 closes the month in Bulgaria’s history with a discovery and an upgrade: the 2009 unearthing of an early medieval cult complex at Cape Kaliakra, and the 2006 opening of Sofia Airport’s new runway.
August 31, 2009 — A Cult Complex Unearthed at Cape Kaliakra
Archaeologists excavating the clifftop fortress of Cape Kaliakra on the Black Sea coast, led by Boni Petrunova of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum, uncovered a religious cult complex dating to the 8th or 9th century.
The find added another layer to Kaliakra’s long story — a site that had already yielded traces of Thracian, Byzantine, and medieval Bulgarian settlement — and underscored the peninsula’s role as a centre of early Christian life on the Bulgarian coast.
August 31, 2006 — Sofia Airport’s New Runway Opens
Sofia Airport brought a new runway into service, 3,600 metres long and able to handle 20 aircraft movements an hour and up to 2,200 passengers at peak times. It was built parallel to the old runway, which was decommissioned.
The upgrade reflected Bulgaria’s growing air travel demands in the years before its 2007 accession to the European Union, and it remains the airport’s primary runway today.
That wraps up late August — revisit August 30 if you missed it, then dive into our Bulgaria From Above series and our guides to the best of Bulgaria.
