Plovdiv - The Ancient City

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The Ancient City

Plovdiv

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Europe Bulgaria Plovdiv The Ancient City

Overview

The Ancient City The guide was updated: 2023-10-27

Life in Plovdiv has never ceased since its first inhabitants - Thracian tribes, settled down about 8, 000 years ago. Due to this fact it has been proclaimed by Daily Telegraph 'The Oldest Continuously – Inhabited City in Europe'.
In IV century BC Philip II of Macedon conquered the city and gave it one of its most popular names – Philippopol. Philippopol played an important role in formation of Hellenistic culture.
In 46 AD Thrace became a Roman province and Plovdiv was given the name Trimontium (City on Three Hills), but citizens often referred to it with its previous name - Philippopol. Later it was proclaimed a metropolitan city of the Thracian province. After the separation of the Roman Empire, it became part of the Byzantine Empire, until it was first conquered by Bulgarians under Khan Krum in 812.
During the Ancient period, Philippopol became a city as significant as it is nowadays. In the ast 8 millenia, representatives of various civilizations left their imprint and created unique of its kind cultural heritage. Doublessly, the cultural sites from the Roman period are among the most well-preserved in the modern city.
As a metropolitan city of the Roman province of Thrace, Phlippopol was gradually equipped with all the commodities, typical for a leading administrative center: a Forum and Odeon, magnificent theatre - venue of cultural life not only in Antiquity, but also in the modern city, a huge stadium, which hosted games, resembling the Olympic games, as well as Aquaducts. Soon after Christianity was legalized in the beginning of VI century, the city became an important religious center.

Archaeological Complex Nebet Hill

Archaeological Complex Nebet Hill

The earliest settlements on the territory of Plovdiv are dated back to the VI millennium BC. There were several Prehistoric settlements on the territory of the modern city, but the oldest and most important one was located on a hill known as Nebet tepe. During the Hellenistic period the town began to spread towards the foot of the hills. At Nebet Hill there are found ruins of dwellings and fortifications dating from this period. The complex of Nebet tepe continued to play an important role as a part of the fortification system of the city until the XIV century. A notable finding of that later period is a water reservoir of 350 cubic meters.

Roman Mosaics of Ancient Philippopol - Candidate for the UNESCO World Herritage List

Roman Mosaics of Ancient Philippopol - Candidate for the UNESCO World Herritage List

Plovdiv is currently a candidate for the UNESCO World Herritage List with its perfectly-preserved Roman mosaics in 3 different locations - the Bishop's basilica, the Early-Christian Small Basilica and Ancient Residential Building 'Eyrene'. The Bishop's basilica is the biggest early-Christian temple found on the territory of Bulgaria. It impresses not only with its dimensions - 36 m of width and 90 m of lenght, but also with its unique architecture, including nearly 2000 sq. m. of mosaics in two layers. The earliest data for the temple are from IV-VI century. The temple was presumably amont the first early-Christian temples built after the Roman empire adopted Christianity as an official religion. The temple will be open for visitors in 2019. Diversity of beautiful Roman mosaics can also be explored in the Small Basilica and Ancient Residential Building 'Eyrene'.

Ancient Theatre

Ancient Theatre

Plovdiv is proud of having one of the most well-preserved ancient theatres in the World, which is also one of the biggest open-air stages on the Balkans. The Ancient theatre of Philippopol, which has been built in the 90s of I century, is one of the best-preserved ancient theatres in the World. Located in the saddle between Taksim and Dzhambaz Hills in the Old Town, it was one of the main public buildings in the ancient city. Apart from theatre performances, the theatre was a venue of gladiator and hunting games, with capacity of 6 000 spectators. Top events take place here during the summer season, such as the Opera Festival "Opera Open", the International Folklore Festival and the Rock Festival "Sounds of Ages".

Roman Stadium

Roman Stadium

The Roman Stadium was constructed in II century during the reign Emperor Hadrian, following the model of the Delphic Stadium. Its Southern part can be seen nowadays, located between Taksim Hill and Sahat Hill. The facility was approximately 240 meters long and 50 meters wide and could accommodate up to 30 000 spectators. The epigraphic and numismatic research of the artefacts discoverd there prove that games similar to the Pythian Games in Greece were held in the city. Alexandrian games were held here in 214 to honour the visit of the Roman emperor Caracalla and Kedrisian Games were carried out in 218 for the visit of emperor Elagabalus. The Roman Stadium was proclaimed a Culutral Site of National Value in 1995.

Forum of Philippopol

Forum of Philippopol

The Forum (Agora) of Philippopol was an administrative, commersial and religious center of the ancient city, a square where debates and various public meetings were taking place. It was situated on the foots of the three hills, in the central part of Philippopolis. With its area of 20 acres, it is the biggest forum complex in Bulgaria, which corresponds to the paramount importance of Philippopolis as a Metropolis of the Thracian province. Its ruins can be seen at the Central square on the Main Shopping Str., along with those of the Odeon of Philipoppol.

Odeon of Philippopol

Odeon of Philippopol

The Odeon of Philippopolis is situated at the North-East end of the Ancient Forum (Agora). The presence of a such a building in the central part of the Ancient city gives grounds to assuming the great importance of Philippopolis as a cultural and political centre. The building is supposed to have originally served as bouleuterion (town hall), but research on later periods of construction indicate it was also used as a theatre. According to the archaeological findings, the building has had four periods of construction between I and IV century AD. The researches and analyses show that the Odeon has all the elements typical for theatres: a skene, orchestra and cavea.

Early Christian Basilica

Early Christian Basilica

The basilica was built in the second half of V century AD and has diverse architectural decorations – marble colonnades separating the aisles, marble altar wall, pulpit and synthronos. There is variety of colorful mosaics with geometrical motives covering the whole floor . Two donor inscriptions were found during excavation works. One of them was carved on the lining marble slab from the altar of the basilica. The other was shaped in the mosaic of red tesserae on white background, just opposite to the altar apse. The name on it has been erased, but it probably refers to Basilisk, a Byzantine Emperor in 475-476 AD.

Ancient Residential Building Eyrene

Ancient Residential Building Eyrene

The peristyle building from the end of the III century is located in the heart of the Ancient Philippopol and used to cover an are of nearly 1 600 sq.m. The incredible floor mosaics in this residential building combine pictorial elements from both the Eastern and Western Roman provinces. It is popular as Eyrene because of the excavated mosaics, depicting an image of a woman with the same name. The renovated Southern part of the building is also a cultural center, a venue of concerts, book presentations and public discussions.

Aqueduct of Philippopol

Aqueduct of Philippopol

Romans have come to one of the most spectacular inventions in terms of water supply during the Antiquiy - the aqueducts. These were the most expensive public facilities built during the Roman period and such an investment was made in very few cities, including Philippopol. The Ancient Philippopol was supplied with fresh water from the Rhodopes. Two main water captations were found near the present-day villages of Kuklen and Markovo. The aqueduct of Philippopol was built in II – III century. It consists of the two major pipelines beating off the mountain springs at the foot of Rhodopes and joining near the Komatevo neighborhood. In II century Philippopol was already being supplied with 43 000 tons of water annually, which was being gathered on the foot of Taxim Hill. The Western Aqueduct was the most impressive and nowadays it is restored and presented to the public.

Bishop's Basilica

Bishop's Basilica

The Bishop’s Basilica is and one of the biggest and most significant Early-Christian temples in the Balkans. It was constructed at the end of V – beginning of VI century on an area of 700 sq. m. and its ruins can be found nowadays in front of St. Louis Cathedral. The basilica fascinates with its mosaics covering the floor and walls, including original images of ‘Heracles Knot’, ‘Spring of Life’, as well as various geometrical patterns and bird images, which never resemble one another neither by species, nor by position. A project for its restoration and full exposure is running at the moment and aims to transform the site and the surrounding area into a cultural complex. The Bishop’s Basilica will be a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage List after its complete restoration.

East Gate of Philippopol

East Gate of Philippopol

The ruins of the East Gate can be seen nowadays at the Northeast end of the Old Town. It was of great significance to the Ancient city, as two impotant roads were crossing it – the road to Byzantium, as well as the one to Danube. At that particular place, a gate already existed in the 2nd century AD. Nearby, there was an arch, at about 18 meters northeast of the gate. It is presumed that on both sides of the street there were military barracks, which formed an entire complex with the East Gate. They were built in the 4th century directly on the ruins of the fortifications.

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