Plovdiv is the second largest city of Bulgaria, situated 150km to the southeast of the capital city,
Sofia. It occupies the western part of the Upper Thracian Lowland and spreads over 6 hills (so-called “tepeta”, which have given Plovdiv the popular name of “The City of the Tepeta”) on the two banks of the Maritsa river.
The place was already populated during the New Stone, Stone-Copper and the Bronze Ages due to its favourable climate and crossroad position between Western Europe and the Middle East, the Baltic region and the Mediterranean. During the 1st millenium BC, Thracian tribes established there a settlement, called Eumolpias. In the year 342 BC, the settlement was conquered by Phillip II of Macedonia, and upgraded to a fortress named Philipopole. Between the 3rd and 1st c. BC, the fortress was called Pulpudeva and was repeatedly invaded by Celtic tribes. Since 1st c., it fell under Roman domination and rapidly grew into an economic and cultural centre, named Trinomtsium after the three hills it occupied at that time. When the town became part of the Byzantine Empire, it was turned into a strategic border fortress by Emperor Justinian in the 6th c. Then, at the end of the 6th c. it was inhabited by Slavs, while in 815 it was included in the territory of the first Bulgarian state. Before it fell under Ottoman rule and was renamed to Phillibe in 1364, the town frequently changed hands between Byzantine and Bulgaria.
Following a decay during the early years of Ottoman domination, the Bulgarian Renaissance period revived Plovdiv and transformed into the biggest town in Bulgaria upon liberation. Yet the Berlin Treaty (1878) signed after the Liberation War split Bulgaria’s territories into two parts, Principality Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia with Plovdiv being the capital of the latter. The reunification of Bulgaria in 1885 was achieved not least thanks to the active part of Plovdiv citizens.
