In brief
Nine artifacts from Apollonia Pontica are set to feature in the Metropolitan Museum’s “Across Wine‑Dark Seas” show, which opens on Dec. 20, 2026. Seven pieces from Sozopol have not yet departed, while two Burgas items, including a Cybele relief and the nation’s oldest marble kouros, arrived in New York on Nov. 12.
In a move that will bring ancient Apollonia Pontica artifacts to American attention, nine pieces are slated to arrive at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the exhibition "Across Wine‑Dark Seas: Art and Identity beyond Ancient Greece," opening on December 20, 2026.
The show, which will run until April 11, 2027, gathers more than 180 works from the Eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea region and beyond, drawing pieces from major institutions such as the Louvre, the Vatican Museums and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Seven of the items belong to the Municipal Cultural Institute Museum Centre in Sozopol, while two are held by the Regional History Museum in Burgas, tells Sozopol Museum Director Dimitar Nedev.
Nedev said:
"The Black Sea is represented in the exhibition exclusively through Apollonia Pontica, with artefacts from the collections of the museums in Burgas and Sozopol."
The two Burgas artefacts are notable: a Cybele relief from the first half of the 5th century BC found in Sozopol Harbour waters, and a 6th‑to‑early‑5th‑century BC marble kouros—the oldest marble statue in Bulgarian museums—discovered on Atia Peninsula.
These were dispatched to New York on November 12 after a three‑day preparation that included specialist packing and specialized transport crates.
By contrast, the seven ceramic vessels and other artifacts from Sozopol, associated with ancient religious practices, have yet to be sent to the United States and remain in Bulgaria.
While the Burgas items are confirmed to be on display, the Sozopol pieces are still en route and will arrive later in the exhibition window.
