Museum Towns and Villages of Bulgaria - Old Plovdiv
Situated on three hills rising in the
Thracian plain and washed by the quietly
flowing waters of the Maritza River.
An ancient crossroads between East and
West and Bulgaria's second largest city
today, Plovdiv has preserved unique
treasures from its 24 centuries long
history. From the city's ancient buildings
- the city forum, the stadium, the amphitheatre
of Philip II of Macedon, basilicas,
thermae, houses and administrative buildings,
mostly fragments remain today: columns,
capitals, friezes, mosaics, bas-reliefs,
and street pavements, The 2nd century
Antique Theatre, seating 3,000 has been
completely restored and performances
are again presented there.
Landmarks remaining from the time of
Ottoman rule include the Imaret Mosque
(1444-45), now a branch of the Archaeological
Museum; Djumaya Mosque dating from the
same period and the Bell Tower, one
of Europe's oldest ones and mentioned
in a 1633 travelogue.
Social and political life during the
National Revival period reflected on
the nature of construction. The Bulgarian
church went beyond its prime objective
of opposing Mohammedanism and became
a part of the nationwide movement for
political and cultural liberation.
The erecting of churches in prominent
places in towns and villages became
a matter of national prestige. The three-nave
basilica churches St. Nedelya and St.
Dimiter (both built in 1831) are guided
by the same interior composition principles
whereby the pithy structure is blended
with National Revival architecture and
sculpture. The altar walls are in themselves
major artistic achievements. In the
St. Constantine and Helena Church (1832)
the gilded Baroque iconostasis was carved
by Ivan Pashkoula. The 1836 icons were
painted by Zahari Zograph - the foremost
master of church and monastery painting
during the National Revival period.
The St. Marina main metropolitan church
(1853-54) represents a three-nave basilica
with massive stonewalls and vaults.
Its six-level, step-like wooden belfry
is exquisite. The altar, pulpit and
bishop's throne were carved by unknown
masters of the Debur school, while the
icons were painted by Stanislav Dospevski
(1823-78) the first trained Bulgarian
artist.
The Old Plovdiv on Trimontium is the
center of the Bulgarian National Revival
architecture at its height. Developing
in a natural way, the Bulgarian building
traditions form the core around which
the new styles of time evolved; the
most attractive of these being Baroque
with its dynamics, passion and revolving
of forms around an idea. So when specialists
write about "Bulgarian Baroque" they
have in mind these essential principles,
rather than the formal aspects of the
style - even more so since neither construction
materials nor technologies were borrowed. 
Plovdiv's houses represent different
versions of a symmetrical plan dominated
by a centrally situated square or oval
salon (in the home of the well known
Bulgarian merchant Argir Koyumdjioglou
it is 133 m2 large). On both sides the
remaining rooms of the house - bedrooms,
drawing rooms, kitchens and bathrooms,
flank the salon, while the cellar held
the household premises. The pediments
and facades were brightly painted, featuring
medallions, landscapes, ribbons and
garlands. The walls of the salons and
rooms depicted painted friezes, vases
with flowers, exotic or architectural
landscapes, birds, tulips, bunches of
grapes and vines. Decorative carved
ceilings topped the lot.
Space and brokenness, abundant decoration
and lavish furnishings, softly colored
silhouettes and carved ceilings - these
houses were called "sultan yapia", i.e.
the houses of sultans or lords. Plovdiv's
two and three-storey houses with their
multi-colored facades, yoke-shaped bay
windows and slender pediments are as
eye-catching as ever, fairly resembling
minor palaces.
 There
are many more things to see in Plovdiv:
the permanent exhibition of Zlatyu Boyadjiev
(1903-76), one of Bulgaria's great artists
who loved and painted Plovdiv, the workshops
of the traditional masters of old Bulgarian
arts and crafts on Struma St. - coppersmiths,
furriers, potters.
Evmolpia - the city of the ancient Thracians,
Philippopolis (372 B.C.) - the city
of Philip II of Macedon the Roman Trimontium
- the city on three hills… and Old Plovdiv
- a picturesque architectural National
Revival period ensemble fashioned by
the generous talent, heart and mind
of the Bulgarian Masters.
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