Things to do in Plovdiv & Rodopi Mountains
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Snow Shack
Pamporovo is ideal for snowboarding; visit the popular British-run Snow Shack in the Hotel Markony complex for snowboarding gear and/or training courses.
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Smolyan Art Gallery
Opposite the museum, the Smolyan Art Gallery boasts some 1800 paintings, sketches and sculptures by local, national and foreign artists.
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Roman Amphitheatre
Plovdiv’s magnificent 2nd-century AD Roman Amphitheatre, built by Emperor Trajan was, incredibly enough, only uncovered during a freak landslide in 1972. At its peak, the structure held about 6000 spectators. Now largely restored, it once again hosts large-scale special events and concerts. Visitors can admire the amphitheatre from several lookouts along ul Hemus, or from the cafés situated above. There’s an unsigned shortcut from above the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa along ul T Samodomov; enter through the passageway into the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts on the right-hand side. Alternatively, you can pay the entrance fee and explore the marble seats and stage.…
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Ethnographical Museum
Plovdiv’s fascinating Ethnographical Museum houses some 40,000 exhibits, including folk costumes and musical instruments, jewellery and examples of traditional crafts such as weaving, metalworking, winemaking and beekeeping. Traditional tools ranging from grape-crushers and wine-measures to apparatuses used for distilling attar of roses are also displayed. Upstairs, the restored 19th-century rooms have nice touches such as carved wooden ceilings. The most renowned Bulgarian National Revival–period home in Plovdiv, it was built in 1847 and owned by the eminent Agir Koyoumdjioglou, later becoming a girls’ boarding school and a tobacco and flour warehouse.
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Hindlian House
Once owned by merchant Stepan Hindlian, Hindlian House, built in 1835, is one of Plovdiv’s most opulent. It’s full of exquisite period furniture and walls painted with real and imaginary landscapes of Venice, Alexandria and Constantinople. These scenes, which took six months to complete, impressed visitors by showing the locales of the owner’s overseas trading empire. The magnificent panelled ceilings and ‘Oriental style’ marble bathroom, with its high, domed ceiling and skylight are other highlights. The small courtyard garden is lovely, too.
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Devin Museum
A comically gruff reception awaits visitors at the little Devin Museum, which exhibits Rodopi folk arts and crafts, ancient and medieval coins, and colourful minerals from local mountains. Prominently positioned reproductions of salacious 19th-century paintings depict wicked Turks whipping Bulgarian women, hurling Bulgarians babies and carrying off slaves. The roomful of traditional implements and machinery, however, is quite interesting, and also displays the gayda (Balkan bagpipe) of Bai Mihail. In winter the museum operates only in afternoons.
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Mineral Baths
If you seek the Devin spa experience, but don't want to pay at the big hotels, bathe with the locals at the outdoor mineral baths, 4km west of town in a gorgeous wooded setting between steep hills. Boasting a large bath and smaller one for kids, this well-kept facility includes a café and nearby restaurant. There's a sand volleyball court and inexpensive massages are available. In summer, the baths work 24 hours, in winter, according to demand. To go by taxi, ask for Struilitsa Parking (the car park of the baths). The 10-minute trip costs 3 lv.
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Ruins of Eumolpias
Some 203m high in the old town, a hill contains sparse ruins of Eumolpias, a Thracian settlement from about 5000 BC. The fortress and surrounding town enjoyed a strategic position, and it was later bolstered by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks, who named it Nebet Tepe (Prayer Hill). While the remaining rubble is rather formless, the site does offer great views. The hill is best reached from ul Dr Chomakov (the continuation of ul Sâborna).
Partially restored remains of a 13th-century reservoir are also here.
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Pelelanovska Konak
[ourpick] Pelelanovska Konak This traditional Rodopean mehana may be in the back streets, across the river, but it’s well worth seeking out. Tucked inside a little enclosure, it has cosy outdoor seating and a spacious, hunting-lodge interior with pelts and antlers on the walls. The enormous menu, strong on local dishes, includes the ‘chef’s special’ satch, a riotous mixture of various meats, cheese and vegetables baked in a clay pot. Service is friendly and attentive.
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Church of Sveti Konstantin & Elena
The Church of Sveti Konstantin & Elena, Plovdiv’s oldest, was built over a late Roman church. It’s dedicated to Constantine the Great, the 4th-century emperor who made Orthodox Christianity the state religion, and his mother, Sveta Helena. The current church, however, dates mostly to 1832. The wonderful iconostasis was painted by Zahari Zograf between 1836 and 1840, and the covered portico features sumptuous frescoes.
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Museum of Speleology & Karst
Also called the Cave Museum, the Museum of Speleology & Karst is unique in Bulgaria and, possibly, the Balkans. Minerals, bottled bats, remains of ancient cave-dwelling animals such as lions and bears, are exhibited, along with displays on the Trigrad and Yagodina caves. A tape in English and German gives explanations. The museum’s in the Hotel Pesternika building, 200m up from the bus station on the hillside.
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Roman Stadium
The once huge Roman Stadium is mostly hidden under the pedestrian mall and buildings; alas, a visionary plan to reconstruct the street with a glass walkway and so reveal the whole structure, remains unrealised. For now, 12 rows of the northern section have been restored, and are visible from the street. Above the ruins, a modern bronze statue of the city's founder - the 4th-century BC king of Macedon, Philip II - stands on a column.
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Atanas Krastev House
The Atanas Krastev House was where local painter and conservationist Atanas Krastev lived until his death in 2003. His self-portraits and personal collection of (mostly) abstract 20th-century Bulgarian paintings are displayed. The cosy, well-furnished house is strewn with personal mementoes, and the terrace offers superb views. The garden also houses exhibits. Buy paintings by living legend Dimitar Kirov here.
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Historical Museum
Smolyan’s Historical Museum, up behind the civic centre, has exhibits including Palaeolithic artefacts and Thracian armour and weaponry. Rodopi weaving and woodcarving, plus numerous traditional musical instruments and folk costumes (most notably the fantastical Kuker outfits worn at New Year celebrations) are also shown. Upstairs contains photos and models of traditional buildings.
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Dzhumaya Mosque
The Dzhumaya Mosque, currently undergoing heavy renovation, is one of the Balkans’ oldest, dating from the mid-15th century. This enormous structure with a 23m minaret was the largest of Plovdiv’s more than 50 Ottoman-era mosques. Another Ottoman structure, the Imaret Mosque is open; note the unusual minaret. It’s between the Hotel Elit and the river.
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King’s Stables
The sprawling, summer-only King’s Stables, opposite the Hikers Hostel, occupies a rolling hill ending in Roman walls. Offerings range from breakfast crepes to hearty meat dishes such as Thracian gouviech (melting cheese and sausage with seasonings cooked in a clay pot). It also features that relative rarity in Bulgaria – friendly service. The restaurant has two adjacent cafés.
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Planetarium
Bulgaria’s biggest planetarium, about 200m west of Hotel Smolyan, offers a spectacular show (35 to 40 minutes) with commentary in English, French or German at 2pm from Monday to Saturday, and in Bulgarian at 3pm from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday at 11am and 3pm. The foreign-language shows are for groups of five or more; otherwise, you’ll pay 15 lv for a solo viewing.
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Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa
The huge, three-aisle Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa stands atop a grand series of stone stairs at the old town’s base. With its unmistakable pink and blue belltower, this church (built in 1844 on the site of a 9th-century shrine) contains icons and murals, including one depicting a sword-wielding Turkish soldier harassing chained and lamenting Bulgarian peasants.
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Bulgarsko Selo Restaurant
In the Spa Hotel Devin, this place does reasonably priced meat dishes, and more expensive regional specialities. The cosy folk décor is enhanced by the open oven, where you can watch the chef roasting huge, crunchy slabs of bread. The restaurant is also the definite winner of the prize for most hysterical English-language entrée title – ‘girl spittle’.
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Philipopolis Art Gallery
The Philipopolis Art Gallery is Bulgaria’s first private art gallery and occupies the well-restored Hadzhi Aleko house (1865). It boasts works by 19th- and 20th-century Bulgarian Masters such as Vladimir Dimitrov, Anton Mitov and Dimitar Gyudzhenov. Hospitable owner Stefan Maletzov happily provides background information and encourages you to take photos.
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Danov House
The Danov House, dedicated to renowned writer and publisher Hristo Danov and several other Bulgarian authors, contains a re-creation of a bookshop and a National Revival–era classroom. There’s an old printing press, and the gardens offer wonderful views. Enter through a wall up the laneway leading to the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa.
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Café Starino
One of Plovdiv’s oldest and most atmospheric cafés, this dark, weathered place next to the Hotel Renaissance has a thick bar and pillowy, Ottoman-style bench-tables on the upper section. Behind the antique, handpainted walls are even older, Turkish-era sections. The Starino attracts mostly a subdued, local crowd.
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Puldin Restaurant
The magical Puldin is one of Plovdiv’s most atmospheric restaurants. In one dining room, the famous whirling dervishes of the Ottoman Empire once whirled themselves into ecstatic exhaustion, while in the cellar hall Byzantine-era walls and Roman artefacts predominate. Although expensive, the décor alone makes it worthwhile.
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Art Cafe Philipopolis
Adjacent to the Philipopolis Art Gallery, the café has a garden section with views, while indoors there’s a nonsmoking section. Light breakfasts and lunches are served, along with coffees and cocktails, though the musical offerings (the rock ballads of Bryan Adams and Aerosmith, over and over) could hardly be called arty.
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Efir-100
Adjoining Djoana, and serving similar grilled meat specialities, this busy place (pronounced efir-sto in Bulgarian) has an eclectic, jungle-like décor. Entrées range from common standbys such as shopska salad and chicken shishle to more unknown commodities like ‘dinosaur’s tail on fire’.
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