Plovdiv

My mom and I just went to Plovdiv which is the oldest city in Europe, between 6 thousand and 8 thousand years old. Two other people we knew from Bansko were also heading there so we gave them a lift. The drive was about 3 hours, which isn't too bad but still a long drive. After arriving we booked our hotel then we were on our way.

We first stopped to look at a mosaic museum where we learned that the Murano style of glass originated in Bulgaria.

We then walked down the Main Street which is nice but the coolest part is that underneath is a massive 240 m Roman race track, which was covered up by the Ottomans.

We then walked around the old part of town for the rest of the day.

We then went back to our hotel.

The next day we ended up meeting the people we drove the day before and they told us about a free walking tour. After having some hot chocolates from Costa Coffee we went on it.

It started at the city centre where the guide explained the coat of arms.
7 bumps to represent the surrounding hills (although in the 1990s they flattened one to put a shopping mall), and the lions represent their strength.

We then stopped to look at a statue which was the town's favourite hobo and myth has it that if you ask a wish in his ear it will be granted.

 She then told us that the Roman stadium/race course was built in in the first century.

Another thing she told us is that Plovdiv was a very important city so everybody wanted it. This resulted in a lot of wars. Over the years it has been owned by the Bulgarians then the Romans, then the Ottomans took over for a long time and wasn't till the last 150 years that it was Bulgarian-ruled again.

The mosque in the centre of Plovdiv in one of the oldest active mosques in the balkans, dating back to the 14th century, and it has  9 small domes instead of one big dome.

The Trap was a wooden market were you could buy anything,  also it was a multicultural market because traders came from all over the world.

A fire in 18th century burnt down the wooden shops, but people rebuilt. But in the communist era every body got moved out of houses and shipped other places, and the houses were left to rot. But for the past 5 years the town has been building everything back up. Kapana is a festival that happens in the Trap, and its to to redo the wooden market like it was so long ago.

After the Trap we visited the old town.


The Bulgarian Revival was in the 18th century. The idea was to remind people what it was like to be Bulgarian, and that they should get their country back from the Ottoman Empire. So the rich merchants funded the movement. This helped them be strong against the Ottomans.

 Houses from that time were known as a classic Bulgarian renewal house. At the time there was a fashion to name your home after your self. They would expand the second floors of the houses so they wouldn't have to pay as much land taxes. Also it was to copy the style of a Vienna house.


One of the most popular houses had drawings from around the world. also to show how rich he was the man had a rose water fountain in the middle of the house.

The Old Town of Plovdiv is on top of three hills, the tallest is known as the gard tower because of the guard

towers placed on top as ancient fortifications.

Plovdiv also has the longest pedestrian road in Europe, reaching almost 2 km.


A 4th century church was built when the murdering of Christians stopped, it has been demolished and rebuilt several times over the centuries, but its roots make it the oldest church in Plovdiv.

The first Bulgarian high school in Bulgaria was built in 1868 but only clerics could go to it.

Next our tour went past a statue that represented all the victims of the communist regime. The man with the violin was a well known violinist played in well known hotels.

But he lost his life when he made a joke to the leaders of the communist party and they sent him to a concertration camp, and he died ten days later.

The Roman theatre was built in the first century, but it wasn't exavated until the 1900s.

In the late 1800s the Bulgarians got half of their country back but the southern half was owned by the Ottomans. Then the leader of the northern half of Bulgaria officially said that the north and south was united. They expected for the Ottomans to attack, but they didn't. Instead on the 6th of September 1885 the Serbs attacked them, and in three days the Bulgarian armed men marched day and night without stopping once. From the south border to the west. Then they attacked the Serbs and they  won.


Well that is a small history lessons on Plovdiv and what I learned while I was there. I hope you enjoyed it, and have a great day.