The city of Plovdiv (340 638 inhabitants, 160 m above sea level.) is situated
in the western part of the Gornotrakiiska (Upper Thracian) Lowland, along the
two banks of Maritsa, the largest river, springing out in Bulgaria, and
scattered upon six unique syenite hills (called “tepeta”- hillrocks).
The town is located 150 km south-east of Sofia, 270 km west of Bourgas, 140 km north-west of Svilengrad, 58 km south of Karlovo, 19 km north-west of
Assenovgrad, 102 km north of Smolyan, 37 km east of the town of Pazardzhik, 90
km south-west of Stara Zagora, 75 km north-west of Haskovo. It ranks as the
second Bulgarian city in population, size and significance, after the capital
Sofia. The city is an important cultural, historic and tourist centre. It is a
regional administrative centre, as well.
Being a crosspoint of major roads from Western and Central Europe to the
Middle East, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean region and from the Black
Sea to the Adriatic, Plovdiv has ancient millennial history. The most ancient
inhabitants of these areas date back to the New Stone, Stone-copper and Bronze
Ages. Later, during the 1st millennium BC, nearby the three eastern hills (Dzhambaz
Tepe, Taxim Tepe and Nebet Tepe) which were practically a natural defence
fortress, the Thracians founded the ancient settlement of Eumolpias. In 342 BC
the town was conquered by Philip II, the Macedonian, renamed Philipopole and
turned into a fortress. Later on (3rd – 1st century BC, the town already being
known as Poulpoudeva, was subject to on-going invasions of the Celts. Since
1th century it was under Roman rule and was quickly grew into a key economic,
cultural and political centre of Thracia Province. The town rapidly developed
and occupied the entire area around the Three-hills, as a result of which the
Romans named the town Trimontsium.
After the year 395, when the Roman Empire had fallen apart, the town remained
in its eastern part - Byzantine. During the next two centuries the town was
many times ruined and set on fire by the Huns and the Gothic tribes. The
Emperor Justinian (527-565) turned it into a strategic fortress along the
northern Byzantine border. At the end of 6th century the Slavs populated the
area and named the town Puldin (originating from the ancient name of
Poulpoudeva).
In 815 Khan Krum included the town within the borderlines of Bulgaria. From
this moment on until it fell under Turkish rule, Plovdiv (already named so)
was subject to numerous takeovers, frequently being under the rules of either
the Bulgarians or the Byzantines. In 1364 the Ottomans conquered the town and
called it Phillibe. Being left far in the back area of the Ottoman Empire, the
town lost its strategic location and gradually declined. It was only during
the Revival Period that Plovdiv regained its glorious name of a large economic
and cultural centre. A new class of craftsmen and merchants was established,
having a newly formed national spirit and material wellbeing. A large number
of residential housings and public facilities preserved as cultural monuments,
date back to that Revival Period.
Prominent Revival enlighteners, cultural and political figures - Naiden Gerov
(a writer, enlightener and Consul of Russia in Plovdiv), the icon-painters
Zakhari Zograf, Dimitur Zograf, Stanislav Dospevski, the wood-carver Ivan
Pashkula and many others worked in the town at that time. The residence and
the inn of the Turpevi Brothers gave shelter to our national Apostle Levski
several times, and in 1870 a local revolutionary committee was founded.
The troops of General Gurko liberated the town on January 17, 1878. At that
time this was the biggest Bulgarian town. After the Berlin Congress (1878)
Plovdiv was proclaimed capital of Eastern Roumelia. It promoted an intensively
diversified public and cultural life. Ivan Vazov, Konstantin Velichkov,
Zakhari Stoyanov and some other reputable Bulgarians lived and worked in the
town for some time. A great number of refugees came to the town from the areas
of White Sea Thrace, Aegian, Pirin and Vardar Macedonia. The town hosted the
proclamation of the Reunification of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and Eastern
Roumelia on September 6, 1885 - an extraordinary in its significance
revolutionary act, proving the strong and irreconcilable Bulgarian spirit in
pursue of its national ideal. It is by no chance that this date - September
the 6th - is currently an official holiday of the Republic of Bulgaria. |
