Not many Bulgarian cities can boast of a picturesque island, while the oldest town on the Black Sea coast, Sozopol, has as many as two islands, and each of them deserves attention. But no matter how beautiful St. Peter Island is, St. Ivan Island is known all over the world, as the local archaeological excavations revealed the relics of the Christian St. Ivan (St. John the Baptist).

It happened recently, in 2010. While studying the altar of an ancient Bulgarian church, Romanian archaeologists discovered a stone sarcophagus made of tuff with an ancient Greek inscription and a marble box with human bones. The inscription can be translated as "God save your servant who brought the relics of St. Ivan the Baptist on June 24". Since then, the island has become insanely popular.

Scientists from all the world's outstanding universities wanted to conduct an examination and reveal all the secrets. Oxford University scientists have suggested that these are the bones of St. Ivan (St. John the Baptist). The DNA analysis they made showed that they were all from a person who lived in the 1st century. They also established that the bones came to the island as a generous gift to its main attraction, the ancient monastery, founded in the 5th century.

As soon as the scientists' research was published, thousands of Christian pilgrims went to the Bulgarian island. The number of Christian believers is not decreasing. Moreover, the island attracts not only Christians. Absolutely all travelers of any religion can find something to suit their taste here.

In the 7th century BC, the island was inhabited by the ancient Thracians who built a sanctuary. Then the ancient Greeks came and erected a temple to Apollo with a giant bronze statue 13 meters high. Unfortunately, only the later medieval monuments have survived to this day: the Church of The Most Holy Mother, dating back to the 10th century, the Church of St. Ivan of the 12th-14th centuries, the monastery library, where monks copied ancient manuscripts for many centuries.