Guide TRAKIA-TOURS - page 4

Plovdiv stretches over both banks of the Maritsa River on the Upper Thracian Lowlands, amid six syenite (similar to granite) hills. Important international roadways, which have connected the East with Europe, the Baltic with the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with the Adriatic since ancient times, pass through the area.Plovdiv is one of the oldest European cities. It was inhabited during the New Stone, Stone-Copper and Bronze Ages. During the first millenium B.C., the Thracian tribes of Odrysi and Bessi founded a fortified settlement, Eumolpias (Eumolpia) upon three of the hills. In 3 ... more

The town is situated on a small plain in the main section of the Sredna Gora Mountains, 360 meters (1170 feet) above sea level. It is protected on every side by mountain slopes; it is wide open to the sun of Thrace from the south; the air is extremely clean due to the lack of industrial enterprises.The first residents on the plain were the Thracian tribe of Bessi, and after them Macedonians, but Hisarya reached its zenith during the time of the Romans. They built a city with wide streets, beautiful courtyards, villas for the aristocracy, marble baths, a sewerage system, and an amphitheater; th ... more

Kalofer is situated in the Tundzha river valley extension, at the foot of the Krastets (a.k.a. Strazha) ridge - a shelf connecting the Balkan Mountains with the Sredna Gora Mountains. Northwest of the city is the highest peak in the Balkan Mountains - Botev.As legend says, the city was founded in the 16th century by Kalifer Voyvoda, (militia leader), a terror to the Turks. The Sultan - after not being able to defeat or catch him - gave his blessing for Kalifer and his freedom fighters to settle in the forest in return for the promise that they would not attack the Turkish caravans. They captur ... more

Kardzhali is situated in a wide section of the middle of the Arda River's valley. It is surrounded by three Rhodope ridges: Chukata, Stramni Rid and Zhalti Dol. The climate is Transitional Mediterranean.The town has preserved traces of various ages and cultures - prehistoric, Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Medieval (from the time of the First and Second Bulgarian kingdoms), and Ottoman. The first inhabitants of these lands were Thracians, subdued later by the Romans. After them came the Slavic tribe of Smoleni. During the Middle Ages the settlement often changed hands. At the time of the ... more

The town of Karlovo is situated in the shadow of the Balkan Mountains, on the plain that carries its name and which is a section of the famous Rose Valley. It is situated on both banks of the Stara River, a tributary to the Stryama.The present-day town is a rather new settlement, which emerged after the Ottoman invasion as an administrative centre close to the medieval city of Kopsis, the descendent of an old village, Sushitsa. It now carries the name of the local Turkish feudal lord, Karl Bey. At the beginning of the 19th century Karlovo was a lively commercial and cultural centre w ... more

Kazanlak is situated in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, on the eastern end of the famous Rose Valley. The natural geographic centre of Bulgaria is here, where the crossroads of domestic travel and international tourism are situated. The city is the capital of rose oil extraction in Bulgaria and the oil-bearing rose of Kazanlak is one of the symbols connected with the name of Bulgaria by people from different parts of the world.The first settlement within the territory of the city emerged during the Neolithic Era (6-5th millenium B.C.). Du ... more

Koprivshtitsa is situated in the main section of the Sredna Gora Mountains, on both banks of the Topolnitsa River.The town emerged during the 14th century, at the beginning of the Turkish invasion. Its first emigrants were boyars (feudal nobles) fleeing from the Tarnovo region, villagers from the Rila mountain region, Albanians, and Macedonians. The inhabitants of Koprivshtitsa became famous as good stockbreeders, craftsmen (producers of thick woolen fabrics and clothing from such, tanners, painters, etc.) and traders. The wealthy and well-laid-out town was very attractive to the violen ... more

The renowned balneological resort spreads out between the Balkan Mountains and the Sredna Gora in the famous Rose Valley, near the Tundzha River. The water from this river forms one of the prettiest and largest Bulgarian dam lakes - Koprinka.During archaeological excavations around these hot mineral springs in Pavel Banya remains of an ancient city were discovered -Roman baths, balneological equipment, a large Christian church and other buildings - which prove that the resort was known since antiquity. The present-day town was founded immediately after the liberation from the Ottoman rule. The ... more

Pazardzhik is situated in the valley of the Maritsa River, in the fertile Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Plain, which takes up the western section of the Upper Thracian Lowlands.Tatar Pazardzhik emerged during the first quarter of the 15th century as a commercial centre on the Singidunum (Belgrade) international road, which connected Europe with Asia Minor. During the 16th century the city became an administrative district centre (kaza) and kept this status up until the time of the Liberation from the Ottoman rule in 1878. Large municipal buildings were built - Eski Mosque, Pasha Haram, Kurshum Inn, etc. ... more

This town is one of the symbols of the epic, historic events of April 1876, whose preparation began with the dawning of the National Revival and predetermined the end of the five-century-long Ottoman oppression. It is situated in the Upper Thracian Lowlands, in the northern foothills of the Rhodope ridge Chernatitsa.These lands contain the remains of Thracian and Roman times and upon the steep cliffs south of the town there are remains of a medieval Bulgarian fortress, Peristitsa - from which, it is supposed, the name of the current town was derived. This fortress was the descendent of the Sla ... more