St. Thomas Island

It has an area of 0.012 km2 (0.0046 sq mi; 3.0 acres) and is one of a very few places in Bulgaria where wild cacti grow.

The Opuntia cacti were brought from the Botanical Garden in Bratislava, Slovakia and planted by the royal botanist Ivan Buresh on the orders of Tsar Boris III in 1933.

The island is part of the Ropotamo nature reserve and lies 0.4 km (0.2 nmi) southeast of Humata Foreland in Arkutino Bay.

[1][2] The first archaeological expedition on the island began in 1955 and exposed the ruins of a small church and some auxiliary buildings.

Bulgaria's National Museum of History said that "The exposed finds indicate that a large sea route shrine was located on the St. Thomas Island," and "The place was chosen for a reason since it was right off the ancient road from Sozopol (Apollonia Pontica) to Constantinople (at the time the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium).