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Various Historical Ages Mingle in the Architecture of the Old town in Plovdiv
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BNR, Veneta Pavlova & Radostin Zhelev, 06.06.2006 , 06.06.2006
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Various historical ages mingle in the architecture of the Old town in Plovdiv
In 2006 the municipality in Bulgaria’s second largest city, Plovdiv, will mark the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the old town an archaeological and historical reserve. The oldest evidence of human existence dates from 6 000 years ago.
Located on a crossroads of important commercial routes that cross the Balkan peninsula, the city used to be one of the largest in the region ever since antiquity times.
The Thracians named it Eumolpia. Then in 342 B.C., when Philip II of Macedonia seized the city, it was renamed to Philippopolis, and finally when the Romans settled there, they called it Trimontium. The city was included within the confines of the First Bulgarian Kingdom in the first half of the 9th century under the Slavic name of Puldin. During the Ottoman domination it was known as Filibe.
There are nearly 200 cultural heritage items in the city, and more than 3- of them are of national significance. Some of the most impressive of them are the Roman amphitheatre, where productions are staged to this day from early spring to late autumn. This theatre is part of a total of seven acting amphitheatres in the world.
And yet, the city owes its unique atmosphere mostly to the National Revival Period architecture of the houses.
Vessela Ilieva, Director of the Municipal institute in the Old Town in Plovdiv:
“During the National Revival Period (18th-19th c.), Plovdiv was the most populated town in the Bulgarian lands. It numbered some 30 000 people in the 19th century, whereas today’s capital city, Sofia, numbered at the time only 2 000. Plovdiv boasted also a variety of ethnic groups: Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews. Some of the richest merchants lived there. One of the largest houses built on 572 sq. m. houses the Ethnographical Museum.”
This building is the famous Kuyumdzhiev House. Amazingly enough it was built entirely out of wood, and yet it is so vast and stable.
“The house is exemplary of the so-called wooden architecture, and also of the Plovdiv symmetrical house.
Bulgarian masters built those houses. As a rule, the houses in the old town bear the names of their owners: Kuyumdzhioglu, Hindliyan, Nishanyan, Balabanov, Stambolyan, etc. These are the names of some of the most famous and most frequented by visitors. These were the homes of well-off merchants who did business within the confines of the Ottoman Empire, and Europe. Some of them had offices in Paris, Vienna, Moscow, and even in Calcutta.
The old houses in Plovdiv combine Balkan architecture with Oriental decoration and European refurbishment.”
How is this heritage being preserved?
“Restoration and conservation, and the very preservation of the cultural heritage in the Old town are our main concern,” Vessela Ilieva said. “We count on municipal funds, mostly. But since the municipality alone does not have the capacity to maintain every single one of the houses we have started looking for outside investments.
The Japanese government, for example, via UNESCO, donated nearly half a million US dollars to the restoration of 8 houses. On the other hand, the Municipal Council adopted a strategy for the development of the Old Town architectural reserve, according to which the estates that had not been declared cultural heritage, be granted under concession for their restoration, so that the reserve becomes livelier.”
The unique atmosphere of the old town attracts many foreign filmmakers to shoot some of their productions in Plovdiv’s Old Town. Many of the houses have been transformed into venues for exhibitions, concerts and literary readings, and a huge number of tourists go there every year to immerse in the atmosphere of the small cobble-stone alleys, meandering along the green yards and soy cafes of the Old town of Plovdiv.
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