Plovdiv tourist information
The Bulgarian town of Plovdiv is situated along the two banks of the river Maritza with its slow water, and also on a number of picturesque hills (called 'tepe' by the local people) that are part of the town's charm and beauty.
Plovdiv is located in the Southern/Central part of Bulgaria. Being the second largest city in the country, it has a population of 350'000. There is a kind of magic in Plovdiv in all seasons. The town is always unique and fascinating. In the winter it is fabuously white; in the spring it is covered with green and flowers, in the summer it is almost unreal in the ghastly heat of Thracia, in the autumn it is calm and placid, with ripe figs and sweet grapes dropping into soft foliage... Plovdiv can hardly be described in simple words... One should see it and feel its unique atmosphere in order to understand it.
The Rennaissance town of Old Plovdiv was built during the 19th century. Today it has survived as a unique architectual ensemble on the three hills. Its houses reveal the remarkable urban culture of Bulgarian builders, as well as their sense of harmony and their creative power. The brilliant architecture with its noble, stylish simplicity could be called rightfully the Baroque of Plovdiv. The Bulgarian people have always been proud that Old Plovdiv was restored and preserved as a large open museum in order to stay for future generations
Today Old Plovdiv is an autonomous area within the modern town with a municipality of its own. It is declared an architectural museum reserve with over 150 monuments of culture - houses from the National Revival period. Its magnificent houses are turned into museums, galleries, workshops, restaurants, and pubs, such as "Puldin", "Trakijski Stan" , "Alafrangite", "The House of Ritora", "The Old House". There are also parlours and studios of painters and wood-carvers. Families from Plovdiv own many of those houses. The most distinguished examples of the Baroque of Plovdiv are the house of Koiumjioglu (now an ethnographical museum), the house of Georgiadi (now the Rennaissance museum of the national struggle), the house of Nedkovich (the municipality), the house of Chomaka (the gallery of the renowned Bulgarian painter Zlatyo Boyajiev), the house of Balabanov (now a gallery of modern painting, as well as a concert hall), the house of Lamartin (the house of writers) where the French poet Alfonse de Lamartin stayed during his diplomatic mission in Turkey... The famous painting "Old Plovdiv" by Tzanko Lavrenov is probably the deepest revelation of the spirit, the excitement and the atmosphere of that fateful Bulgarian Rennaissance.
The wooden ceilings inside the houses of Plovdiv are carved, as if there is a sun in every room. Walls are polychromatically decorated. They have painted niches and fine, stylish European furniture. There is a kind of magic, some fine, fairly innocence in the spirit of Plovdiv. No wonder why UNESCO awarded Plovdiv a gold medal for architecture in 1979.
Walking around Old Plovdiv, visitors enjoy the steep, cobbled streets and lanes with bow-windows and eaves above them. Facades are colored in harmonious combinations, with stylish patterns of white and blue. Windows have either wooden shuttles, or iron nets. Lovely gardens with plenty of green and flowers, fruit trees, old vines and figs, evergreen boxshrubs and roses under the shadows of old trees are hidden behind solid walls and heavy gates. Fancily colored pots of gullyflowers stand prominently behind windowpanes and upon sills. Wells are now only an exotic adornment. The babble of water running from old little fountains and taps breaks the silence. Tiny doors hidden within the thick walls lead to the neighbours' yards. All those beautiful colours of the narrow, patriarchal world of the past helped the Bulgarian ancestors to survive during the long decades of the yoke.
The first fair in Plovdiv was opened with gunfire on August 15, 1892. 36 woden pavilions, some of which from Vienna and Paris, were erected at the place of the present central park. The most luxury pavilion was from Karlovo. The pavilion from Pazarjik was shaped like a barrel in which good wines were offered. In the pavilion from Varna visitors were told how Bulgaria would be a tourist country one day - and that day became indeed. 168000 visitors saw the first fair that lasted 75 days. They were dazzled by the innovations.
It was not until the 30-s of our century that the fair was organized again by the Chamber of Trade and Industry in Plovdiv. In 1934 it became an annual fair of patterns and in 1935 it was proclaimed a single national fair. In the next year it became a member of the Union of International Fairs. The fifth national fair started on May 3, 1937 and it became the first International Plovdiv Fair. After a break during World War II the fair was organized again in 1947. Until 1966 the fair was held at various intervals; afterwards it became an annual event. The pavilions of the International Plovdiv Fair will expect exhibitioners and guests from all over the World each year between May 6-11 and September 23-28 and its prestigious gold medals will be awarded.
Remains of ancient, mediaeval, revival and modern culture coexist and are interwoven into the unobtrusive, irresistible and eternal beauty of this city. They do not stand in each other's way; they complement and enrich each other to make Plovdiv a synonym of Bulgarian history and a genuine world city.
Plovdiv is very, very old. The Eternal City, as Rome is conventionally called, is much younger. Athens, Carthage and Constantinople came into being later. A contemporary of Troy and having survived Mycenae, Plovdiv is a city upon layers of cities and an epoch upon layers of epochs. Plovdiv is all in one: a Thracian and classical Greek polis, the pride of Philip of Macedon, the capital of Thrace under the Roman Empire, a centre of Byzantinism, a stronghold of the Bulgarians, a dream of the crusaders -- a magnificent, wealth and most important city.
Kendros, Eumolpia, Philippopolis, Pulpudeva, Thrimonzium, Pulden, Populdin, Ploudin, Filibe -- those were the ancient names of Plovdiv throughout its 6000 to 8000 years of existence. The name Plovdiv first appeared in 15 century documents and has remained till today.
In the distant past Plovdiv was situated on seven hills: Taxim, Nebet, Jambaz, Sahat, Jendem and Bunarjik. The seventh hill, Markovo Tepe, has nowadays subsided completely under the pavement of modern Plovdiv.
In 432 B.C. the town was conquered by Philip II of Macedonia. During his rule the ancient Thracian fortress and towers were rebuilt. The vain Philip II gave the city his own name, Philippopolis. Soon it became a Thracian town again, called Pulpudeva. During the 1st century A.C. it was conquered by the Romans. The practical Romans called the town Thrimonzium (lying on three hills) because the Roman town was situated on three hills, Taxim, Nebet, and Jambaz Tepe. The Roman emperors Trayanus and Marcus Aurellius built solid fortresses around the town. They intoduced many improvements, as well as coin minting. At the time Plovdiv was known as Ulpia Thrimonzium, the most flourishing metropolis of the Thracian province. The magnificent amphitheatre above dates back from Roman times. Now it is restored and classical drama, operas, and concerts are presented on stage in the open air...
In 447 the Huns ruined the town. In the sixth century the Slavs settled in the Balkan Peninsula and introduced the names Pulden and Plundiv.
In 815 Khan Kroum seized the fortress. In the following five centuries the town was ruled by Bulgarians, then conquered by Byzantium. The Bulgarian army came again later. The Crusaders demolished and plundered the town several times on their way to Mecca.
1365 was a fateful year for Plovdiv. The town fell under the Turkish yoke. Later it was renamed Filibe and became an important administrative and military center of crafts. Filibe was the seat of the ruler of the district of Rumelia. At that time the town possessed a mysterious charm and striking poverty typical of the Orient. The functioning Jumaia Mosque attracts visitors to the center of modern Plovdiv with its fine minaret and its sun-dial.
The commercial area of the town was between that mosque and the river Maritza. One of the oldest clock towers in Eastern Europe is located behind Sahat Tepe. The clock is working even nowadays. As the Turkish traveller Evlya Chelebi wrote in 1651, "Philibe is the biggest one among 10 big towns in the European part of Turkey, and is getting richer every day".
The 19th century brought Plovdiv closer to the rennaissance from cultural opression during the Turkish occupation. That was the time of spiritual awakening when the Bulgarian people began their struggle for religious, cultural and political independence. Many citizens of Plovdiv sacrificed their lives because they had the courage to rise against the sultan. In 1850 the well-known enlightener Naiden Gerov established a class school. In the following year the anniversary of the Slavic enlighteners Sts. Cyrillus and Methodius was celebrated for the first time. Hristo G. Danov founded the first Bulgarian publishing house in 1855. He circulated the printed books, newspapers and magazines around the Bulgarian land. The first printing press in Bulgaria appeared at that time. The Bulgarian revolutionist Vassil Levski organized a revolutionary committee in Plovdiv.
The long cherished liberation came to Plovdiv on January 19, 1878, after 500 years of waiting. However, the extasy of it was short. The Berlin Congress divided newly liberated Bulgaria into the Principality of Bulgaria and the autonomous region of Eastern Rumelia with its capital Plovdiv. Just seven years later the unification of Bulgaria was proclaimed on September 6, 1885. That was the first blow agains the unfair Berlin Agreement. This is a photo of the lovely monument in the middle of Unification Square that honors the hundredth anniversary of that great event. The monument depicts the Mother-Country with the laurel wreath of victory stretched in her hands, with her two wings, the two regions brought together, ready for the coming 20-th century.
On September 9, 1944 the Nazi were driven off Bulgaria and the communists came on power. A very close relationship with the former USSR was established and many monuments were built in the honor of the USSR. One of them, the monument of the Russian soldier Aljosha, has remained at the top of a hill in Plovdiv.
The end of communism for Bulgaria is quite recent -- November 10, 1989. Plovdiv was a place of major demonstrations of the democratic forces in the country. Some people refer to the city as "the blue (democratic) capital of Bulgaria."
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