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Cultural Tour of Plovdiv's Old Town
About
A full, day-long tour of the centerpiece of the city of Plovdiv – the Old Town architectural and historical reserve. The buildings belonging to the Bulgarian Revival Period Architectural Style, the landmarks, and the pieces of ancient Roman architecture scattered around the Old Town form a rich tapestry of several historical periods, forming a mural that offers a valuable insight into multiple cultures and their lifestyle, preserving them for future generations to see. Highlights See the most famous landmark in Plovdiv – its Ancient Roman Theatre Tour the historic house-museums Balabanov House, Hindliyan House and Klianti House Visit the oldest church in Plovdiv – the St. Constantine and Helen Church Get authentic souvenirs from the market stalls of the Street of Folk Arts and Handcrafts Immerse yourself into the local culture at the Ethnographic Museum Enjoy a panoramic view of the city from atop Nebet Tepe Description
The Old Town of Plovdiv is an architectural museum, offering a glimpse of what this city was like in past centuries. Many of the houses there once belonged to Plovdiv’s elite, and today they have been converted to historic house-museums that preserve the memory of its past, celebrate its achievements and showcase its beauty in a way that lets you experience it up close.
The Center of Plovdiv, like a miniature reflection of the city as a whole, is a place where old meets new. The Baroque-inspired Main Street runs adjacent to the Old Town, with several offshoots of the smaller streets weaving into the older cobbled roads of the historical and architectural reserve. A good meeting point for the tour would be the Roman Stadium which marks the end of the first 1/3 of the Main street. Eastward from there is the most popular entry point of the Old Town.
Passing Dzhumaya Mosque and heading uphill leads us directly to the Church of the Holy Mother of God. Built in 1844, this imposing structure is an example of Bulgarian National Revival art and architecture.
The road in front of the church if forked, and our route takes us right. Just past the church is the so called Yellow school – Bulgaria’s very first high school, founded in the distant 1868 and still in use to this very day.
Up ahead is the crown jewel of this city – the Roman Theatre, also known as the Ancient Theatre of Philippopol – one of the best preserved in the world. From this vantage point you’ll get to see the entire southern side of the city. It was constructed in the 1st century AD and used for theatre performances, gladiator games and hunting spectacles. It is still in use today as a stage for opera, music concerts, and other cultural events. Be sure to check if there are any events planned during your visit to Plovdiv! Witnessing one of the amazing spectacles that are hosted in the Theatre right from its ancient seats is a truly unforgettable experience.
We go back to the main road and continue to the St. Dimitar Solunski church – the highest situated church in Plovdiv. It is noteworthy for its marble iconostasis, the only one of its kind among Plovdiv’s Revival Period art. The icons inside the church date back to the 15th-18th century, and some of them are framed with silver.
We continue down the nearly even road, past the fascinating Revival period houses. Every other house is a historic house-museum, marked by the informative signs detailing its past owners and history.
Among them is the Klianti house-museum – the oldest out of the Old Town’s preserved richly decorated houses – nearly 200 years old. It is notable for its colorful ceiling murals – each room has its own unique ceiling, adorned with intricate floral motifs and landscapes. Having fallen into a state of disrepair, it underwent extensive restorations over the course of nearly a decade and was finally open to the public in mid-2017 to take its place as both a work of art and one of the most significant architectural landmarks in Plovdiv.
Our tour next takes us past Lamartine’s house, named after Alphonse de Lamartine. One of its rooms houses a permanent exhibition dedicated to the poet.
After that we’ll be heading down to the innermost sights of the Old Town. We’ll be passing the Paldin restaurant – a landmark unto itself and one of the most prestigious restaurants in the city. We can stop here for lunch, or simply for a nice coffee and dessert.
We end up just in front of the "Hippocrates" Pharmacy Museum – the only pharmaceutical museum exhibition in the country. It offers a look into the world of medicine starting from the Revival Period, all the way up to the beginning of the 20th century – a time during which medication was made entirely out of natural ingredients.
Adjacent is the “Zlatyu Boaydzhiev” house-museum – a gallery named after and dedicated to one of the most important Bulgarian painters – Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. The artist behind detailed paintings of the Old Town of Plovdiv and rural life, he suffered a stroke at age 48 and the formerly right-handed artist spent the rest of his career painting with his left hand and in a completely different style. The museum now houses 72 of his paintings.
The St. Constantine and Helena church was first built in the year 337 on the site of an older, pagan temple and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the course of its history. The church as it stands today was constructed in 1832, making even its current iteration one of the oldest churches in Plovdiv.
Near it is one of the best preserved structural fragments of the Ancient City of Philipoppol’s fortification system – the foundations of a circular tower known as the South Round Tower.
The street in front of the church is home to several antique shops. We can stop to browse and take a closer look at the tiny pieces of the past on display.
We reach a spacious square. This is where the road diverges into several directions, each leading to some of the most significant landmarks in the Old Town.
First, we’ll be heading right, towards Hisar Kapia. This medieval gate, built in the 11th century AD, stands on the foundations of an even older, Roman-period gate, and was once the Eastern entrance to the acropolis of ancient Plovdiv.
Our attention is immediately grabbed by one of the most stunning pieces of Revival Period architecture in the Old Town – the house of Dimitar Georgiadi, which houses the Plovdiv Regional History Museum’s Revival Period Exposition.
Immediately adjacent to it is the house of Nicholas Nedkovitch. Richly decorated on the outside, and even more so on the inside, the house is now a museum and houses the exhibition “Old-Time Urban Type” which shows what the wealthiest Plovdiv homes of the 19th century looked like. St. Nedelya church is just up ahead.
From there we’ll go down Stramna street, also known as the Street of Folk Arts and Handcrafts. Its small shops and market stalls showcase a wide selection of handcrafts, folk art and souvenirs that allow you to get in close contact with the local traditions. There is also an artisan bakery house, where you can choose among a huge variety of homemade bread and pastries. From there we circle back to Hisar Kapia and, beyond it, the Ethnographic museum.
The Plovdiv Regional Ethnographic Museum houses a collection of 40 000 cultural artifacts, including furniture, musical instruments, clothing, pottery, tools and household objects, offering a unique look into the lifestyle of the people who inhabited this region in the past. The museum itself is an intricately decorated Bulgarian Revival Period house heavily featuring Baroque elements.
After a tour of the museum, we ascend to the clearing at the peak of Nebet Tepe (or Nebet hill), from which you’ll be able to enjoy a panoramic view of the northern side of Plovdiv. The three remaining syenite hills tower over the cityscape in the distance. Strewn around the clearing is what remains of an ancient Thracian fortress, dating back to 4000 BC. We’ll stop here for pictures, to explore the ruins, and simply to enjoy the view.
Once we’ve had our fill, we continue our tour to the base of the Old Town, on its west side. We can take a detour to the house of Atanas Krastev, who was pivotal to the establishment and development of the Old Plovdiv institution, and its “Red Pony” gallery – the only open-air gallery in Plovdiv.
Back on our route, we’ll be passing by the Retro Photo Studio, where you can have your picture taken wearing an authentic Bulgarian folk costume, or try on a number of different costumes from different historical periods if you like.
We reach the most famous houses in the Old Town. Balabanov House is known for its impressive architecture, furniture, wall paintings, intricate woodcarvings on the ceilings – a unique design in each room – and artworks. The ground floor acts as an art gallery displaying a permanent exhibition of modern Bulgarian art. The Hindliyan House is a stunning example of Symmetrical Plovidv Architecture. With its Neo-Baroque design, intricate ceilings and the detailed landscapes handpainted on its walls, the Hindliyan house is the most richly ornamented of all preserved houses in the Old Town.
This concludes our tour. We can walk you to the Main Street if you wish. The price includes Tour guide The price does not include Entrance fees Notes
The tour takes you to all the major landmarks in the Old Town. Which museums you want to enter is up to you – you will be advised which ones are a definite must-see.
The Old Town is built on steep terrain – atop 3 of Plovdiv’s syenite hills. The large cobblestones that pave its streets pose an additional challenge. While not difficult to navigate, visitors are advised to wear comfortable shoes so as to enjoy their tour with minimum discomfort.
Restrictions
- people Group Size: From 1 Up To 12
From €100.00
Journey Across Bulgaria's Rose Valley
About
One of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria is the Rose Valley. Located just to the south of Stara Planina Mountain, this valley is home to gorgeous fields of Rosa damascena – a rose cultivar from which rose oil and perfume are produced. Rose oil and the process of its making are an important part of Bulgarian culture, especially in the regions where these roses grow, and every year its towns and cities celebrate the oil-giving rose and its beauty.
This tour takes you to two of the most significant towns in the Rose Valley, where you’ll get closely acquainted with the Bulgarian Rose and the centuries of tradition associated with it. If you schedule your trip in the couple of days of May / beginning of June, you can join the millions of visitors arriving from all corners of the world to see Kazanlak’s Rose Festival. Highlights
• Tour the Old Town of Karlovo
• Try your hand at various handcrafts in the museum workshops
• Visit the Damascena Ethnographic Complex
• Taste a wide range of rose-derived food products such as rose brandy and rose jam
• Try the rose essential oils Bulgaria is famous for
• Learn about the process of rose-oil production
• Explore the city of Kazanlak – capital of the Rose Valley
• See the famous Rose Festival and the election of the annual Queen Rose
• Visit historic sites such as the UNESCO protected Kazanlak Tomb
• Enjoy a variety of rose products you can buy as gifts or souvenirs
Description
Day 1
First thing in the morning after breakfast, we’ll head for Karlovo. This picturesque town is one of the most significant settlements in Bulgaria’s Rose Valley, and home to a number of major historical landmarks located in its Old Town.
Every year at the end of May and beginning of June, Karlovo hosts its own version of the Rose Festival that is celebrated all across the valley.
We’ll visit its chief historic house-museums, many of which have workshops and offer rose products.
At the “Buhalov Inn” House you can attend a degustation of coffee, brewed using the “coffee on sand” method, with complementary rose food products, white jam or fig jam. We will see different examples of traditional crafts such as weaving, felting, embroidery, woodcarving.
Pateva House offers a demonstration of the process of drawing essential oils from a miniature distillery filled with various types of seasonal herbs. This is followed by a herbal rakia degustation, authentic Balkan tea, rose and lavender tea. Visitors may get their picture taken wearing a traditional folk costume from this cultural region.
Our next stop is the “Raino Popovitch” House. Here, visitors can craft their own stamped decorative postcards and make cards out of recycled paper. Print yourself unique certificate using an authentic 19th century printing press, complete with a wax stamp! In “The White Yard” House we have the opportunity to see a demonstration of various painting practices in the Zograff style and icon painting techniques. Visitors may even create and paint objects out of clay, and dress up tiny wooden dolls in traditional Bulgarian dresses.
There will be plenty of free time for photos and lunch in one of Karlovo’s traditional Bulgarian restaurants. We can also visit other historic houses in the Old Town. Day 2
The second day of our tour takes us to the Kazanlak area – a place where the Valley of the Roses and the Valley of the Thracian Kings overlap. Kazanlak is considered the capital of Bulgaria’s Rose Valley.
The Damascena Ethnographic Complex is located a few kilometers away from the town of Kazanlak and is the first stop of our tour for the day.
Damascena gives you the chance to experience the full range of rose products Bulgaria has to offer. You’ll learn about the techniques used to create the Bulgarian rose products, historically and today. You’ll have the chance to taste rose jam, rose honey, rose liquor and rose brandy. You can sample some of the variety of rose-derived essential oils. If you wish to take some of these exquisite products with you as a souvenir or as gifts, you can find all you need at the gift shop. The complex itself is part of that experience – the authentic traditional architecture and gorgeous garden, along with the delicious local cuisine served at its restaurant, make it a joy to visit and a great place to ease you into the world of Bulgarian rose oil.
Our next stop is the city of Kazanlak. We’ll visit its top historic sites, as well as its rose museum.
The Kazanlak Tomb (circa 4th-3rd century BC) is one of the most significant monuments of Thracian culture in the country, included in UNESCO’s list of global cultural inheritance. The remains of a man and a woman were buried inside. This tomb is known for the remarkable wall paintings covering the walls of the corridor and the dome ceiling. The murals depict scenes from the life of the Thracian ruler buried inside the tomb.
From there we’ll delve back into our tour’s main topic – the Bulgarian rose.
The Rose Museum in Rosarium Park, introduces the rich history of Bulgaria’s rose oil production. It contains over 15,000 exhibits pertaining to rose oil. We’ll learn about the history of rose oil production in the country, and about the customs associated with it. Every year, in the beginning of June, Kazanlak hosts a festival dedicated to the Bulgarian rose. This gorgeous spectacle is the most anticipated day of the year for its citizens – and its visitors. It is normally scheduled on the last couple of days of May or the first days of June, but dates vary annually.
What kicks off the Rose festival there is the Queen Rose beauty pageant, where highschool graduates compete for the title of Queen Rose. The winner gets to represent Kazanlak in front of its sister cities all around the world in international forums. The beauty pageant is followed by the “Rose-picking and Rose-boiling” ritual on the Sunday of the holiday – the culmination of the festival. Rose-pickers in folk dresses, folk dancers, kukeri, and performers entertain the crowd and offer rose jam, rose rose liqueur and other rose products. The most nimble-fingered rose-picker is chosen.
This is followed by a performance of the folk rose-picking and boiling ritual. It is all finished off with a carnival.
Over 5000 costumed participants parade down the streets of Kazanlak, dressed like characters from classic literature originating from this region, lead by Queen Rose herself.
After we’ve had our fill of Kazanlak, we’ll travel to the architectural-ethnographic complex of Etara – the first of its kind in the country.
On the way there, we’ll stop by the Shipka Monument – one of the most significant cultural landmarks in Bulgaria. This towering structure commemorates the Battle of Shipka during the Liberation War and those who died in combat. The monument was built in 1930 and resembles a fortress tower and stands atop Mount St. Nicholas.
From there we’ll continue on to the open-air museum.
Etara is a fully functioning reproduction of Bulgarian traditional rural life in the past. It gives travellers and natives alike the chance to get in close touch with Bulgarian culture and folk craftsmanship. There are 16 workshops along the artisan street, where you can see the crafting process and buy handmade souvenirs. The complex features workshops for pottery, woodcarving, icon painting, furriery, cutlery, bakery, sweets shops, musical instruments and many more, all open and active and authentically representing the traditional crafting methods. Special mention goes out to the beautiful examples of Revival Period architecture comprising the village, each house’s façade as colourful and intricately ornamented as the last. Many folk programmes, festivals and events take place in Etara all year round.
Departure and overnight in Plovdiv.
Restrictions
- people Group Size: From 2 Up To 10
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Address:
- Krumovo
- Plovdiv Province
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Venue Ref: 1014862-80