The town lies on the site of an ancient Thracian settlement, with the earliest traces of human settlement dating to the Neolithic. It was probably colonized by the Ancient Greeks around 440-430 BC. According to researchers the city was founded by Athenians. The Romans called it Peronticus, while the Byzantine leader Agathon reconstructed the town after barbarian invasions and possibly gave it his own name, Agathopolis. According to other sources, it was named thus as early as 323 BC. Another name it bore anciently was Aulaiouteichos or Alaeouteichos.
Year
Population
1920
770
1934
972
1946
1,079
1956
1,058
1965
947
1975
945
1985
1,137
1992
1,204
2005
1,316
In the Middle Ages, the town frequently changed hands between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. Medieval sources mention Ahtopol as a lively merchant port where many Byzantine, Italian and other ships arrived. With the invasion of the Ottoman troops at the end of the 14th century, the town was called Ahtenbolu. The town ultimately fell under Ottoman rule as late as 1453. An Ottoman tax register of 1498 lists 158 Christian families in Ahtopol, most of which have Greek names but others evidently Slavic. In 1898, Ahtopol was a town of 410 houses, of which 300 Greek and 110 Bulgarian. In the 19th century, it was still a thriving centre of fishery and overseas trade, with many locals owning their own ships and selling goods all around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Viticulture was also well-developed. Ahtopol has been burnt down and devastated by sea pirates many times, with the most recent fire being in 1918, when the town was almost destroyed. Remains of the town's fortress, the 12th-century monastery of St Yani and a fountain with a carved horseman are the only traces left from ancient times. Another landmark is the Church of the Ascension from 1796. Ahtopol was a kaza centre in Kırkkilise sanjak of Edirne Vilayet between 1878-1912 as "Ahtabolu". Also, Evliya Çelebi passed from here in 1663 and referred as "Ahtabolu" in 6th volume of Seyahatname. After the Balkan Wars, when the area was ceded to Bulgaria by the Ottoman Empire, the town's predominantly Greek population gradually moved to Greece and was replaced by Bulgarian refugees, mostly from Eastern Thrace, specifically Bunarhisar. The Greek name of the town was Achtòpolis, Αχτοπολις or Agathùpolis, Αγαθουπολις.
Rocketry
From 1984 to 1990 28 soundings rockets of the Soviet type M-100 were launched near Ahtopol at 42°5'8"N 27°57'17"E.
