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The gate exists in its pesent-day appearance since XI century. However, below the level of the street pavement there have been found foundations from the Roman period (probably from the 2nd century AD). It served as a crypt for many years. The gate is part of the ensemble, which includes the outdoor quadrangular tower under the altar of St. Konstantin and Elena Church.
The house was built in the early XIX century by the merchant Hadzhi Panayot Lampsha. It has had three owners, bu nowadays it bears the name of the last one - the tradesman Luka Balabanov. The houses’s dimensions are impressive with its 546 m² of built area. At present, a permanent exhibition of modern Bulgarian art takes place on the ground floor. The second floor, once having served for a guest hall, features the typical interior of the Revival period. The house serves as a venue of various cultural events – exhibitions, literature premieres, chamber music concerts, theatre performances, meetings, etc. The International Chamber Music Festiva l- Balabanov's House Music Days takes place here annually.
Stepan Hindliyan’s house is one of the few houses in Plovdiv representing the the symmetric design of a typical Revival house. The owner of the house was a merchant and representative of one of the four wealthiest families of Armenian origin in Plovdiv. The walls on the second floor of the house impress with paintings of landscapes from Constantinople, Venice, Alexandria, Stokholm and other cities, all painted by memory. A mirror image of the house can be seen above the door of the storage room in the yard, which serves both as decoration and a blueprint of the house. Many of the cultural events take place in the house every year.
The church St. St. Konstantin and Elena is one of the oldest Christian temples Plovdiv, located right on the wall of the Acropolis in the Old Town. In 304, at the place where the church is located today, 38 martyrs of Plovdiv became victims of persecutions against Christians. According to archaeological researches, the very first Christian temple in the city was built in honor of two the beheaded holy martyrs – the Thracians Severin and Memnos. In the ‘60s of XIX century, a beautiful 13-meter-high bell tower was built, with five floors and two bells. Next to the church, there used to be a parish school, which nowadays operates as an Icon gallery.
The doctor and public official from the National Revival period Dr. Stoyan Chomakov was one of the most active fighters for autonomous Bulgarian Church before the Liberation from Ottoman domination in 1878. The Chomakov's House, built in 1862-1865, is his 'testament' to the future generations of Plovdiv. In terms of its architecture, the Neocalssical style popular at that time, was abandoned. Since 1984 this house has hosted the biggest collection of 72 paintings by the famous Bulgarian artist Zlatyu Boyadzhiev (1903-1976), representing the two periods of his professional life.
The Street of Crafts is a crafts market where one can explore typical for the Revival period workshops, have a tea or coffee, purchase herbs from a traditional drug-store, observe works of skillful craftsmen created in front of their eyes. There can be observed workshops in: ceramics, pottery, bakery, felting, glass engraving and painting, weaving and blacksmithery. Every visitor is able to see, or make by themselves, and purchase a souvenir from Plovdiv.
The house of Nikola Nedkovich was built in 1863 and features the most exuberant exterior decoration in the Old Town. Nowadays, it is one of the very few houses that have preserved original artefacts belonging to the primary owners. The ground floor of the house impresses with its unique ceiling carvings which have been preserved in their original appearance without any restoration work. The upper floor is notable for the distinctive style of its decoration. Here the spirit of Western Europe endures a strong presence through a superb collection of period furniture. Nedkovich House is of the venues for hosting creative activities and initiatives in the Old Town.
The house was built in 1872 by Dr. Sotir Antoniadi, one of the first people with medical degree in Plovdiv. Nowadays, it features the Old pharmacy shop Hippocrates and the Museum of Pharmacy, which are unique for Bulgaria. Here you can have insight of the way medicine and pharmacy were practised during the Bulgarian Revival period, up to the beginning of the 20th century – a period when all the medications and pills used to be made of natural ingredients. A lot of tools and medical equipment, manufactured mainly in Vienna and Berlin, are displayed inside. The original book with recipes by the healer St. John of Rila still keeps the memory of the century-old art of making remedies.
The first temple to Saint Nedelya at that venue was built in the early XVII century and is one of the few churches built on this area. The majority of the icons were painted by Dimitar Hristov Zograph and his son Zafir, later known by the pseudonym Stanislav Dospevski. Frescoes from 1871 are preserved in the temple. They can be seen on the eastern wall of the altar and in medallions, located high between the arches of the columns. On the west wall under the balcony, on both sides of the entrance, there were found two mural panels depicting St. George and St. Dimitar /Demetrius/ in the typical iconography of horsemen warriors.
Veren Stambolyan’s house, built in the second half of XIX century, is a large two-storey symmetrical building, located on the Eastern slope of Dzhambaz Tepe. Years ago, it used to be a creative center of Union of Bulgarian Artists and Union of Plovdiv Artists. Since May 2010, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the work of the famous Plovdiv’s artist Dimitar Kirov /1935-2008/ has been arranged in the house. Kirov belonged to the generation of Plovdiv artists, who modernized the image of Bulgarian art in the 1960s.
The construction of this residential building started in the middle of the 18th c. It is an asymmetrical two-storey house, which has undergone several refurbishments in the 19th c., the most significant being that from 1817. Up to the present time 2/3 of its original substance have been preserved, for over time it had changed several owners. Of all the Revival period houses in Plovdiv, Klianti House is the oldest and features enthralling interior decoration and unique architecture. The covered yard on the ground level is impressive. The first floor today consists of three rooms and of a spacious hayet with many windows. At the level of the hayet, next to it, a median storage room is built with a height of 1.60 m. It is named himala (meaning "low" in Greek). The ornamentation and decoration on the walls in these two rooms is extremely rich and is matched with preserved wooden elements. The mural paintings are polychrome and include plant ornamentation, bouquets and vases with flowers. The wooden ceilings are adorned with different decorative ornaments, the enclosed wooden recesses (musandras) are painted with bouquets of roses and the doors are richly decorated. On both sides of the alafranga in one of the rooms, unique landscapes from Vienna and Constantinople and the year 1817 were treated and restored.
This is one of the many houses in the Old Town that used to belong to the famous house of Chalakovtsi during the Revival period. Valko and Stoyan Chalakovi were born in Koprivshtitsa, but their left their mark here, in Plovdiv. The churches St. Bogoroditsa and St, Nikolay, which are just next to the house, were built mostly on their donations, as well as the school 'St. St. Kiril and Metodiy'. The bigger brother - Valko, is donator of the Rila Monastery, and was responsible for the schools, churches and hospitals in Plovdiv. The house of Chalakovtsi was restored in 2012 by Assosiation 'Trakia' with the help of volunteers and artists from National School 'Tsanko Lavrenov'. The furniture which can be seen in the house is entirely from the Revival period.
The first records of a church, which was originally buit in honour of Virgin Mary, date back to IX – X century. In 1844 - 45, craftsmen from Bratzigovo constructed an entirely church - a three-nave pseudo-basilica with impressive dimensions. After Stoyan Chalakov took the position of churchwarde,the church was entirely reconstructed. The iconostasis was made by the Debar woodcarvers Andon Stanishev and Dimitar Stanishev in the Empire style and Nikola Odrinchanin created the icons. In 1875 Stanislav Dospevski painted the royal icon of Saint Mary with the Divine Infant by the iconostasis. The hurch was fully restored in 2000.
At this place in the beginning of XIX century there was a dilapidated late medieval church, dedicated to St. Dimitar of Solun the Thaumaturgus. Funds for the continuation of the construction were donated by wealthy Plovdiv citizens Ivan Politoglu, Valko and Stoyan Teodorovich Chalakovi, Stoyan Kurtovic Chalakov, Iskro Kesyakov, Todor Valkovich, and others. Anton Kamizopulos, merchant of Greek origin in Moscow, born in Plovdiv, donated valuable church-plates for the ordinance of the altar: Four Gospel, decorated with fittings, censers and vestments for the priests.Probably the temple was built by the famous master from Bratsigovo Stoyu Ivanov. Most impressive is the marble iconostasis, the only monument of its kind in our Revival art. It was created in 1860-1869, by Adrianople and local masons, led by Greek artist A. Calumen. The funds for the expensive and impressive iconostasis were donated by the prominent resident of the parish, Ivan G. Politoglu. The yard of the St. Dimitar temple is surrounded by high stone walls. In the western part there is the small chapel-holy spring, dedicated to the martyrs St. Kirik and Julita. In the north side of the narthex is the belfry, built in the ‘80s of XIX century by architect Joseph Shniter’s design. The single storey building of the sexton’s house fits snugly to the southern fence wall. Next to the chapel, built on the high retaining wall, is the old priest’s home.
Sveti Nikolay (St. Nicholas) Chapel is located on top of Taksim Tepe in Plovdiv, about 70-80 meters west of The Assumption church. It is assumed that it was built during the reign of Bulgarian ruler Ivan Alexander around 1355 and was Saint Nikolay even then. The current building of the chapel dates back to 1835, when it was built with funds donated by Valko Todorov Chalakov from Plovdiv, who lived very near the temple. St. Nicholas Chapel is a small, single nave basilica, with one apse and a size of 17.5m /9.80m/6m. It is built of unshaped stone. Only the east altar wall and the apse are from carved stone blocks. The iconostasis of the chapel is from the old demolished church and that is why it is the oldest iconostasis in Plovdiv. It dates back to 1733 and has an interesting and original old carving. Presumably, it was made by local craftsmen, who were influenced by the carving in the great church of Bachkovo Monastery. The church icons were painted by Renaissance painters Zahari Zograf and Dimitar Zograf. The royal icons of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas are the work of Zahari Zograf. There is a relatively small icon of St. Nicholas on the iconostasis, whose author was Hristo Dimitrov, Zahari Zograf’s father.
The Early-Revival ensemble of houses of Evdokia Bakalova and Kasandra Bayatova is situated in the northernmost part of Dr. Chomakov street and shapes the architectural framework of Nebet tepe hill. In 2012, a crafts center was arranged in the house by Plovdiv Regional Chamber of Crafts. In the studios, visitors can watch the process of making art fabrics, jewelry beads, art ceramics, products from belenitsa /corn leaves/ and embroidery with national patterns. The center is equipped a showroom for handicrafts.
Armenian Apostolic Church Surp Kevork Surp Kevork Church was originally an Eastern Orthodox Church, dedicated to St. George the Victorious. This is the only church with side compartments besides the central nave: one for women and another for men. Next to the church there was built a chapel. After several reconstructions the church got its present outlook. In front of the church and around it there is a large yard that surrounds the church complex in a rectangular shape. Part of it serves as a school yard from the time it was built in the first three decades of XIX century. The yard on the west side rests on a massive, high stone wall. In the past, the yard was intended for graveyard of prominent and wealthy Armenians from the community, as well as priests and prelates, who had died here. In the churchyard, on the empty spot between the church and the erstwhile Surp Hach church, there is a preserved marble sarcophagus with a rectangular shape.The church tower, probably constructed in the second half of XIX century, was semi-destroyed during the earthquake in 1928. The new tower was built on the same spot in the corner. In the courtyard, in front of Tadey and Parteniy chapel to the west side, near the west staircase, still stands a well, made to the order of a noble Armenian, in memory of his deceased son. The well was built on May 5, 1877. In the northern part of the churchyard is the former building of St. Vartanants – Varavaryan School, with an inscription in Armenian on elliptical marble plaque and the year of its construction in 1894.
After the Edict of Milan in 313 AD in the ancient city of Plovdiv were built an episcopal basilica and residence of the spiritual head of the diocese. The temple, existing in the time after this period, was built probably in V century and existed until the end of VI century when it was destroyed by Slavic invasions. According to studies of these researchers the temple was dedicated to St. Paul. In the middle of XVIII century the church was burned down again. Among the first donors in its recovery were Hadji Andon, Konstantin Mavrudioglu, Costa Atanasov and priest Yani. It was finally completed in 1783 during the time of the Plovdiv Metropolitan Kiril. In 1828 the construction of a new iconostasis for the temple, a pulpit and a canopy for the Holy See started. The woodcarvers who made this were representatives of the Debar carving school. The dome is with polyhedral shape. In the western part of the temple there is an open colonnade – narthex which was inscribed with biblical scenes by painter Nikita Odrinchanin in 1858. The total number of scenes are 29, 24 of which are from the Old Testament. When the construction of the new, bigger temple started, the earlier carved iconostasis was preserved. On the left of the royal doors of the iconostasis was an icon of Virgin Mary with the Divine Infant, and on the right – an icon of Christ the Savior, both painted by Stanislav Dospevski in 1868.Two old places for church singers have octagonal shape and are decorated with encrusted bones and wooden plates. Nowadays, St. Marina is the temple with the biggest number of bells. The church also stores a fraction of the holy relics of Saint Martyr Marina as a sanctuary.
