After the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, Balchik developed as centre of a rich agricultural region, wheat-exporting port, and district (okoliya) town, and later, as a major tourist destination with the beachfront resort of Albena to its south. After the Second Balkan War, in 1913, the town became part of the Kingdom of Romania, with its name spelled Balcic. It was regained by Bulgaria during World War I (1916–1919), but Romania restored its authority when hostilities in the region ceased. During Romania‘s administration, the Balchik Palace was the favourite summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania and her immediate family. The town is the site of Marie’s Oriental villa, the place where her heart was kept, in accordance with her last wishes, until 1940 (when the Treaty of Craiova awarded the region back to Bulgaria). It was then moved to Bran Castle, in central Romania. Today, the Balchik Palace and the adjacent Balchik Botanical Garden are the town’s most popular landmarks and a popular tourist sightseeing destination. During the inter-war period, Balchik was also a favorite destination for Romanian avant-garde painters, lending his name to an informal school of post-impressionist painters, the Balcic School of Painting, which is central in the development of Romanian 20th-century painting. Many works of the artists comprising the group depict the town’s houses and the Turkish inhabitants, as well as the sea. In 1940, just before the outbreak of World War II in the region and in the wider context of Hitler’s intervention and the Second Vienna Award, Balchik was ceded back by Romania to Bulgaria by the terms of the Treaty of Craiova. This included an exchange of populations by ethnic groups.
Held each year since 1991, “The Process – Space Art Festival” is an annual international festival of contemporary art, which takes place over two weeks in June. Balchik Palace also hosts the “In the Palace International Short Film Festival”.
Balchik is becoming well known internationally as a golfing destination. There are three 18-hole championship golf courses within the local vicinity, two designed by Gary Player – Thracian Cliffs GC and BlackSeaRama GC; and one designed by Ian Woosnam – Lighthouse GC. A fourth 18-hole golf course is currently in the planning stages.
