Welcome to Plovdiv!
Plovdiv (Bulgarian: Пловдив) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, and one of the two oldest cities in Europe. It sits on the large plain between the Rhodope Mountains on the south and the Balkan Range (Stara Planina - "Old Mountain") that runs through the centre of Bulgaria to the north. Both ranges are visible on clear days. The Maritsa River flows through the city on its way southeast before forming the Greek/Turkish border to the Aegean Sea.
Plovdiv (Bulgarian: Пловдив) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 as of 2018 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the cultural capital of Bulgaria and was the European Capital of Culture in 2019. It is an important economic, transport, cultural, and educational center. During most of its recorded history, Plovdiv was known by the name Philippopolis (Greek: Φιλιππούπολις, Philippoúpolis, lit. "Philip's city") after Philip II of Macedon.
Plovdiv is situated in a fertile region of south-central Bulgaria on the two banks of the Maritsa River. The city has historically developed on seven syenite hills, some of which are 250 meters (820 feet) high. Because of these hills, Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as "The City of the Seven Hills". There is evidence of habitation in Plovdiv dating back to the 6th millennium BCE when the first Neolithic settlements were established. The city was subsequently a local Thracian settlement, later being conquered and ruled also by Persians, Ancient Macedonians, Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Bulgarians (Thracians, Bulgars, Slavic tribes, etc.), Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks. Philippopolis was founded as a polis by Philip the Great (r. 359–336 BCE), the king of ancient Macedonia, settling there both Thracians and 2,000 Macedonians and Greeks in 342 BCE. Control of the city alternated between the Macedonian kingdom and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom during the Hellenistic period, the Macedonian king Philip V (r. 221–179 BCE) reoccupied the city in 183 BCE and his successor Perseus (r. 179–168 BCE) held the city with the Odrysians until the Roman Republic conquered the Macedonian kingdom in 168 BC. Philippopolis became the capital of the Roman province of Thracia. The city was at the centre of the road network of inland Thrace, and the strategic Via Militaris was crossed by several other roads at the site, leading to the Danube, the Aegean Sea, and the Black Sea. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180 CE) built a new wall around the city.In Late Antiquity, Philippopolis was an important stronghold but was sacked in 250 during the Crisis of the Third Century, after the Siege of Philippopolis by the Goths led by Cniva. After this, the settlement contracted, though it remained a major city, with the city walls rebuilt and new Christian basilicas and Roman baths constructed in the 4th century. The city was again sacked by the Huns in 441 Plovdiv in September, Kapana Fest, and Opera Open. The oldest American educational institution outside the United States, the American College of Sofia, was founded in Plovdiv in 1860 and later moved to Sofia.
On 5 September 2014, Plovdiv was selected as the Bulgarian host of the European Capital of Culture 2019 alongside the Italian city of Matera. This happened with the help of the Municipal Foundation "Plovdiv 2019″, a non-government organization, which was established in 2011 by Plovdiv's City Council whose main objectives were to develop and prepare Plovdiv's bid book for the European Capital of Culture in 2019.