A settlement was founded at the present place of Sveti Vlas in the 2nd century AD by Thracians and Greeks, then called Larissa. It acquired the name Sveti Vlas in the 14th century after Saint Blaise, a monastery dedicated to whom existed in the region, but was burnt down in the 14th-18th century by consecutive pirate raids. During the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, it was known as K�c�k manastir or simply Manastir ("monastery"), while the name Sveti Vlas became official after 1886. Until 1920 the population of Sveti Vlas was predominantly Greek. After 1920 as a result of the exchange of population between Greece and Bulgaria most of the local Greeks emigrated to Western Thrace (ceded to Greece in 1920) Greece and found their new home in the village of Strymi (until 1920 Chadarli), Sapes municipality. Less than 10 Greek families remained in Sveti Vlas. After 1912 and especially after 1920 tens of Bulgarian families emigrated from Greece, predominantly from Greek Macedonia and established themselves in Sveti Vlas. The settlement became a climatic sea resort in 1963 and a town on 2 February 2006. Sveti Vlas is the only place on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast where the beaches are facing directly south
