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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.
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PICTURES FROM PLOVDIV
INTERNATIONAL PLOVDIV FAIR
THE ANCIENT THEATRE
IN OLD TOWN
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