Legends add an aura of mystery, heroism, or simply drama to the setting in which they take place. The one that illuminates the origin of the seven hills on which Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city, stands has much of the latter to offer. The story goes that a young man from this place in ancient Thrace set out with the victorious army of Alexander the Great and gained fame and power in his conquests of Babylon. When his family asked him to return home to help them, he did not, triggering his mother’s terrible curse: if he returned, he would turn to stone. As an old man, he tried to return, but when he stood at the gates, he and the seven camels that accompanied him, laden with riches, turned into the seven natural rocky outcrops on which the city sits.
Six of these hills – the seventh no longer exists after being converted into paving material – still shape the profile of Plovdiv, which lies southeast just two hours by car or train from the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The city boasts of being in one of the oldest places still permanently inhabited, with Neolithic settlements dating back more than 6,000 years. A privileged crossing point between East and West, this enclave was populated by Thracians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Crusaders… and of course Bulgarians. With them they also had diverse customs, diverse cuisines and of course different artistic styles. They all left more or less visible traces in a place that today has almost 350,000 inhabitants and stretches along the banks of the leisurely Maritsa River.
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The result is a Plovdiv full of remnants from all eras mixing together. Thus, just a few meters from the monument to the Bulgarian soldier Gyuro Mihaylov, a hero of the late 19th century, the ancient columns of the Roman Forum and the Odeon rise, reminding us that the Imperial Legions and the Latins ruled the area and the enclave baptized Trimontium (the three mountains). In fact, the city’s main street, nearby Alexander I Street, now pedestrian and full of shops and cafes, stretches the 240 meters long occupied by the Roman stadium built in the 2nd century. Part of this structure, which can accommodate 30,000 people, can still be seen today and can be found both outdoors and on the lower floors of some shops between the clothing sales counters.
The Roman Theater in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.Evgeni Dinev (GETTY IMAGES)
Just a few meters away is the Dzhumaya Mosque with its nine domes and a 23 meter high minaret, which is intended to commemorate the city’s Ottoman past and is home to one of the city’s most famous and oldest pastry shops. Not far away, and walking through the streets, the little-visited 16th-century Orthodox church of Sveta Marina appears almost surprisingly, with its peculiar seven-story bell tower that looks like an exotic pagoda. And a little further opens the district of Kapana (“trap” in Bulgarian, alluding to the complexity of its alleys), the place where craft workshops were located centuries ago, as the nomenclature of the street map reminds us. , with references to the materials they worked with: Kozhuharska (leather), Zhelezarska (iron) or Ziatarska (gold). Kapana, thanks to the restoration impulse that led to Plovdiv being declared European Capital of Culture in 2019, is a fashionable district full of houses transformed into canvases with colorful murals, small restaurants that pride themselves as gastro counters, avant-garde art galleries and corners where Take photos to upload to Instagram.
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One of the squares in the Kapana district in Plovdiv (Bulgaria).PETAR MLADENOV (Alamy)
However, to reach the most magnificent part of Plovdiv, you have to go further and walk down Tsar Boris III’s Avenue. and then, not without effort, climb up to the old town, which lies on the three hills of Taksim, Dzhamhaz and Nebet Tepe, where the first human settlement was located and which today form a single hill. There, the ancient Roman theater, which is still in use, unfolds its seats like a gigantic vantage point over the rest of the city. It is the monumental prelude to a walk through cobbled streets that lead up and down and are full of surprising villas – those who have counted them say there are more than a hundred – built in a particular style known as the Bulgarian National Renaissance (18th century). . and 19th century). centuries). . Their colorful facades, full of floral patterns and with protruding windows and bay windows supported by wooden beams, testify to the wealth accumulated by the merchants of this city. Although pampered by their previous owners after suffering a period of neglect years ago, many now house museums, such as the Ethnographic Museum, or cultural centers.
A couple in front of Hisar Kapia, a medieval gate in the old town of Plovdiv.Taymuraz Gumerov (Alamy)
Each of these mansions has its history, its personal brand and its charm. The so-called Hisar Kapia House rises with its blue facade up to the old medieval wall and one of its doors. The Giorgi Danchov House commemorates the photographer and revolutionary who lived there. The ancient Hippocrates Pharmacy is located on the ground floor of the house of Sotir Antoniadi, one of the city’s first qualified doctors. The Lamartin House is so named because the French poet and traveler Alphonse de Lamartine stayed there in the summer of 1833, although it was only for three days, when he returned from a trip through the Middle East. And the Balabanov house, built by a rich usurer, changed hands until it was named after its last owner, a timber merchant.
The former Hippocrates Pharmacy, now located on the ground floor of the house of Sotir Antoniadi.tadao (Alamy)
Spectacular from the outside, with manicured gardens in many cases, the inside is no less spectacular. They house a luxurious pictorial decoration on walls and ceilings, depicting geometric motifs, architectural elements, flowers, landscapes and sometimes details of what their wealthy owners saw during their travels through the then fashionable European cities: Venice, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg… All this accompanied by wooden floors, but also by details that were accessible to very few at the time, such as bathrooms with toilets, internal communication systems for calling servants or gas lamps. Furthermore, many seem to be linked to a key moment in Bulgarian history: the end of Ottoman rule at the end of the 19th century. Secret meetings were held in its luxurious halls at which the independence desired at the time was discussed. Today, 145 years later, they give the seven legendary hills their splendor.
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