The Shabla Lighthouse Through the Eyes of Lighthouse Keeper Nanyo Nanev | Фар Шабла през погледа на фаропазача Наньо Нанев(англ)

"Why did I go to the trouble of writing this book? Because this is the oldest, tallest, and most colourful Bulgarian lighthouse. It marks the easternmost geographical point of Bulgaria. Here is where the New Year arrives astronomically first in our country . Many historians, journalists, local historians, geographers, both established names and beginners, have written about the lighthouse. And not one of the dozens of lighthouse keepers with long service records has ever attempted to write even a short story about it!

Because the Shabla Lighthouse occupies half of my life - in my professional biography, in my personal life, and in the history of my family. Because fate determined that I would have a friend like Atanas Ivanov, a friendship tested in both the calm and stormy waters of the Black Sea. Because I realised in time my privileged position compared to all those who write about the lighthouse. I had the unique opportunity to photograph the lighthouse through all four seasons, by day and by night, under various whims of weather, and to read and reread the lighthouse's logs, as well as the notes from interviews with old people from our Black Sea coast taken 60-70 years ago by our predecessors, Todorka and Ivan Hadzhiivanovi -Atanas' parents. Grandpa Ivan lived to the age of 101 and, with his curiosity, was the living history of our Black Sea coast.

My service at the Shabla Lighthouse introduced me to various people, some of whom I still keep in touch with. Most of them agree with me that the lighthouse should become permanently accessible to visitors, with its own museum corner - this has long been a global practice!

However rich and long the history of the Shabla Lighthouse may be, there is also a small part of it during which the lighthouse was in the territory of the Kingdom of Romania and was serviced by Romanian citizens. This should not remain a blank spot in the lighthouse's history, and I have tried to address this. I attempted to find everything published in Bulgarian (and occasionally in Romanian) about the lighthouse. I do not claim to be writing a scientific history of the lighthouse, but I am attempting to present it to the reader in a popular form. Researchers still have much work to do in this direction, and I will be glad to learn something new from them.

The Shabla Lighthouse has inspired (and will continue to inspire!) many poets and artists. I am not a literary or art critic, but I will make space for our locals: Georgi Davidov, Stefan Zhechev, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, and Kosta Kostov.

Whatever is written about the Shabla Lighthouse will never be enough, but that does not mean we shouldn't try to add to this history what we already know. Moreover. I am convinced that I have the moral right to do so."

- Nanyo Nanev

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CONTENTS

INSTEAD OF A PREFACE

IF WE LOOK BACK THROUGH HISTORY

AFTER THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF BULGARIA

THE HISTORY OF THE H AD JII VAN О V FAMILY -SOME OF THE MOST RECENT HISTORY OF THE SHABLA LIGHTHOUSE

150 YEARS SINCE THE RESUMPTION OF OPERATIONS AT SHABLA LIGHTHOUSE (2006)

NECESSARY FINAL WORDS

NAMES OF LIGHTHOUSE EMPLOYEES AND THEIR YEARS OF SERVICE AT THE SHABLA LIGHTHOUSE

REFERENCES

PHOTO ALBUM

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Фар Шабла през погледа на фаропазача Наньо Нанев