Old Plovdiv is become Bulgaria's Montparnasse

By William A. Davis, Globe Staff, 07/07/96

LOVDIV, Bulgaria -- Until the collapse of the Soviet empire, Bulgaria, the most dutiful satellite, was the forgotten country of Eastern Europe.

Today, Bulgaria is a multiparty democracy with an evolving post-Marxist economy, a growing tourist trade and a honeymoon-stage love affair with all things Western. But it still has an image problem.

Which probably explains why Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city after Sofia, the capital, isn't on many American travel itineraries yet. Bulgarians, however,consider Plovdiv a great place to visit: livelier, friendlier and more cosmopolitan than better-known Sofia.

The rise and fall of empires is nothing new to Plovdiv. An ancient city, it was founded by the Thracians, conquered by Phillip of Macedon, colonized by the Romans and successively ruled by the Byzantine Empire, medieval Bulgarian kings and the Ottoman Turks until becoming part of the modern Bulgarian state in the late 19th century.

There are visible reminders of all these occupiers in the most interesting part of the city, Old Plovdiv: the hill above the south bank of the Maritsa River where Thracian tribesmen established the settlement they called Pulden. A photographer's delight -- and map maker's nightmare -- Old Plovdiv is a maze of climbing cobblestone streets where just about every twist and turn offers a surprise of some sort.

In Old Plovdiv, Macedonian walls follow the lines of Thracian fortifications. Time-blackened medieval gates have Roman foundations. And a splendidly restored Roman amphitheater stands on the site of an earlier Greek theater while the minarets of Turkish mosques share a skyline with the domes and spires of Orthodox churches.

But Old Plovdiv's architectural glory -- and the real source of its charm -- is the predominance of buildings in the last-century Bulgarian style called National Revival because it was an expression of a cultural and political renaissance.

Plovdiv's merchants and artisans were in the forefront of the nationalist movement. The handsome houses they built in Old Plovdiv were exuberantly decorated with traditional folk designs, whitewashed rooms hung with icons and portraits of national heroes, brightened by colorful handwoven rugs.

The typical National Revival house is built around a small courtyard, generally flower-filled and overlooked by carved wooden balconies. Most houses are angled into the hillside, and because lots were small and land was at a premium, upper stories protrude over lower ones, hanging above narrow streets in seeming defiance of gravity.

Some of the grandest old merchant homes are now museums. The Ethnographic Museum, for instance, is an ornate mid-19th-century mansion that mixes high Victorian ornamentation with traditional Bulgarian folk design. The museum's colorful yellow-and-black facade and beautiful garden have made it probably the most photographed building in Plovdiv.

The museum's collection includes some of the house's original furnishings. But the real treasures are the superb folk crafts and costumes from the region of Plovdiv and the Rhodopes Mountains to the south.

Old Plovdiv is a naturally picturesque neighborhood, but now that free enterprise has been unleashed here, it seems well on its way to becoming a sort of Bulgarian Montparnasse. Many recently restored old houses are now occupied by restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, boutiques and discos.

As the private sector expands, more such commercial enterprises are opening all the time. ``This is a society in transition,'' noted one such entrepreneur.

The best way to savor Old Plovdiv is to just poke around, exploring interesting streets, looking into old churches (interiors invariably are a riot of color blazing with candles and redolent of incense) and investigating inviting courtyards.

Most Old Plovdiv restaurants have pleasant garden courts and offer alfresco dining and a lot of local atmosphere. The cuisine is local, too, which means grilled meat dishes and spicy stews as menu mainstays.

Fortunately for vegetarians, salads are a Bulgarian specialty. One found on most menus is ``Salata Shopska'': a tasty mixture of cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and peppers topped with crumbled goat cheese.

The countryside around Plovdiv is one of Bulgaria's best wine regions. Most local wines are reds and, fortunately, go well with peppery meat dishes.

A grape variety peculiar to Plovdiv is Mavrud, which was introduced by the Thracians and makes a red wine so thick it resembles syrup. But when Mavrud is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, the result is an excellent table wine called Pulden in recognition of its Thracian origin.

Eating out in Plovdiv is a budgetary as well as culinary treat. A full-course meal with wine in a good restaurant will cost a couple less than $25.

Plovdiv is a city of some 360,000 people, having burst out of the old town and spread out on both sides of the river over the last century. There are particularly nice views of the city and surrounding countryside from the terrace above the Roman theater. Besides a view, the terrace has a pleasant outdoor cafe, a popular hangout for students from nearby Plovdiv University.

Built into the crest of the hill, the 3,000-seat theater, which dates from the second century AD, is oriented on the scenery. With an appropriate appreciation of the dramatic, the theater looks southeast toward the purple line of the Rhodopes on the horizon.

A lot of cultural activities, including theatrical and opera presentations in the Roman theater and chamber music concerts in the garden of the Ethnographic Museum, are held in May or September. This is to coincide with the twice-yearly international trade shows, biggest in the Balkans, held in a large fairground on the north bank of the river.

A nearly mile-long walking street runs from the fairground to the downtown area. It includes a wide foot bridge across the river that is lined with stalls selling all sorts of things including food, flowers, clothing and crafts.

The heart of the new town is Tsentralen Ploshtad. A vast concrete plaza obviously laid out with May Day parades in mind, Tsentralen Ploshtad is dominated by the first- class but not very welcoming Trimontium Hotel, a Stalinist era throwback. Trimontium was the Roman name for Plovdiv, and remnants of a Roman temple can be seen in a sunken area in front of the hotel.

Plovdiv is liveliest in early evening when the citizenry turns out for the korso, the traditional promenade. The favorite promenade route is up and down Knyaz Aleksandar, downtown's main street.

A showcase for the new Bulgaria, Knyaz Alexsandar is lined with shops, restaurants, bars, night clubs and sidewalk cafes where those table umbrellas that don't advertise Pepsi tout Coke. In the 1960s, the communist authorities tried to suppress ``decadent'' Western music and fashions. But the decade that refuses to die is back in a big way on Knyaz Alexsandar these days.

The sounds of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones blare from loudspeakers and boom boxes. And promenaders use the korso to display the latest -- for Bulgaria -- styles.

To the delight of nostalgic Western visitors, Bulgarian women of all ages have enthusiastically (if not always wisely) embraced once-forbidden fashions such as hot pants and the microskirt. Plovdiv has gone through many transformations in its long history. But none have been as much fun as this one.

For information about travel to Bulgaria, write to Bulgarian Travel Information Center, c/o Balkan Holidays, Suite 508, 317 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017 or call (212) 573-5538.