Hometown-Plovdiv

 

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   Plovdiv may still play second fiddle to Sofia, but beauty and culture in this city of 360,000 folks make it a worthy rival to Bulgaria's capital. Summer concert crowds of 3,000, for instance, are well accommodated by renovated ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater discovered downtown during the early 1980s.

The River Maritza meanders through Plovdiv, set upon three picturesque hills (called "tepe") rising above south-central Bulgaria's Thracian plain. Local architecture reflects Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman occupations during a 6,000 year history. Modern Plovdiv is called "the blue (democratic) capital of Bulgaria," due to 1989 demonstrations that helped usher out Communism.

Old Plovdiv -- an open air museum of sorts -- is the city's main tourist attraction. Its steep cobbled streets lead through splended Bulgarian Baroque architecture, and some of the region's best restaurants. The annual International Fair of Plovdiv also draws throngs of visitors.

Plovdiv makes a fine base for day trips to the 11th century Bachkovo Monastery, Valley of the Roses, or Pamporovo ski area. Locally grown figs and grapes add even more old world flavor to Plovdiv and its surroundings in late summer and early fall.

PICTURES FROM PLOVDIV

   

           

          

           

         

   

 

INTERNATIONAL PLOVDIV FAIR

     

 

THE ANCIENT THEATRE

     

 

IN OLD TOWN

           

         

            

      

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Last updated: 07/08/03.