A few years ago, one of our articles with interesting incidents and events from the city under the hills caused quite a lot of interest among our readers. We all love Plovdiv, but the truth is that not everyone is familiar with its history and the curiosities surrounding the oldest living city in Europe. That is why we've collected 10 more things that we're sure you don't know:
Plovdiv has existed continuously since the 6th millennium BC, but its name wasn’t known until the middle of the 4th century BC.
The first serious development of the city took place under Philip of Macedon, but its real rise was during the time of the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
Plovdiv was annexed to the Bulgarian state during the reign of the ruler Malamir. During the campaigns of the Bulgarian ruler Krum in 811-813, when he destroyed many Thracian cities and took their inhabitants to the north, the population of Philippopolis abandoned the city and fled to safer areas in the south. In 836, the city was conquered by the Bulgarian ruler Malamir, the population surrendered and the change of power took place without much bloodshed. Philippopolis remained within the borders of Bulgaria until 970, when it was captured by the Kiev knyaz Sviatoslav I, who looted the city and impaled 20 thousand of its inhabitants. After the expulsion of the Kiev troops from the Balkans in the following year, Philippopolis was again annexed to the Eastern Roman Empire.
In Old Plovdiv, in 1857, the first publishing house in Bulgaria was founded, named Druzhestvena knigoveznitsa. This took place in Hristo Danov's house, which nowadays is a museum, through which we have taken you on a virtual tour.
On July 25, 1878, the first Bulgarian post-liberation newspaper Maritsa began to be published in Plovdiv by Hristo Danov. Its appearance was determined by Grigor Nachovich. Although regional, the newspaper acquired a nationwide character and was read and quite seriously followed in the then Principality of Bulgaria.
In 1887, Plovdiv was the largest city in Bulgaria by population, followed by Sofia, Ruse and Varna.
The first electrified railway line in Bulgaria was between Sofia and Plovdiv and was opened for operation in 1963. In 1983, its complete doubling was completed.
Bulgarreno and Bulgaralpin cars were produced in Plovdiv in the 1960s. 1968 is remembered for the industrial history of Plovdiv. Then on Asenovgradsko shose, the new car factory for the production of Bulgarreno models was opened. Bulgaria became the leading producer of Western cars, and our city was the center of this miracle for its time. Unfortunately, it only lasted two years. In 1970 the plant was closed, and production of the three Bulgarreno models #8 and #10 and the sports Alpin was suspended by order of Moscow.
A small planet (or, more precisely, a small space object) in the Solar System is called Plovdiv. It was found in 1968.
Plovdiv is the richest wine region in Bulgaria. It is located in the heart of the Thracian Valley wine region and is literally surrounded by wineries. The area around Plovdiv is famous for the production of red wines and is home to the popular local grape - Mavrud.
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