Plovdiv - City of Bulgaria

Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a population of 378,688. It is the administrative centre of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria and three municipalities as well as the largest and most important city of the historical region of Upper (or Northern) Thrace. The city is an important economic, transport, cultural and educational centre.

The climate is temperate with strong influence from the Mediterranean and is typical of southern Europe. Summers are generally extremely hot and dry. Winters tend to either have a very mild Mediterranean character, or a very cold Siberian character, and sometimes see elements of both.

Plovdiv is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is a contemporary of Troy and Mycenae, and older than Rome, Carthage or Constantinople. Archaeologists have discovered fine pottery and other objects of everyday life from as early as the Neolithic Age, showing that in the end of the 7th millennium B.C. there already was an established settlement there.According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Plovdiv's written post-Bronze Age history lists it as a Thracian fortified settlement named Eumolpias. In 4th century BC the city was a centre of a trade fair.

The Slavs had fully settled in the area by the middle of the 6th century and changed the ethnic proportions of the region.

After the unification Plovdiv remained second city in population and significance after the capital Sofia. The first railway in the city was built in 1874 and in 1888 it was linked with Sofia. In 1892 Plovdiv became host of the First Bulgarian Fair with international participation which was succeeded by the International Fair Plovdiv. After the liberation the first brewery was inaugurated in the city.

There are a pedestrian area and a coast area with a lot of fun for the tourists. There you should get around by foot. If you live in the tourist suburbs of Varna, you can come to the centre by bus, by trolleybus, by a rented car or by taxi. Take careful with the taxis: You may pay 10 times the right price.

Around two thirds of the citizens (62,38%) have secondary, specialized or higher education. That percentage has increased in the period 1992-2001.

Plovdiv has 78 schools including elementary, high, foreign language, mathematics, technical and art schools. There are also 10 private schools and a seminary. The number of pupils for 2005 is 36,964 and is constantly decreasing since the mid 1990 due to lower birth-rate.Among the most prestigious schools are: Plovdiv English Language School, National Schools of Commerce - Plovdiv, Omega College, English Academy, National School for music and dance art Plovdiv, French High School of Plovdiv.

The city has 6 universities and a number of state and private colleges and branches of other universities. Those include the Plovdiv University with 900 lecturers and employees and 13,000 students, the Medical University of Plovdiv with 2,600 students, the Medical College, Technical University of Sofia - Branch Plovdiv, Agrarian University - Plovdiv, University of Food Technologies, Academy for Music, Dance and Fine Arts and others.