Plovdiv is the 6th oldest living city in the world and it is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia dating back to neotlithic settlements 6000 BCE. When Philip II of Macedon, (after which the city was named Philippoppolis) father of Alexander Great conquered it in the 4th century BC, and later came numbers of civilisations like Persians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgarians, Slav-Vikings, Crusaders and Turks. Finally, in 1878, Plovdiv was liberated from Ottoman rule by the Russian army and it remained within the borders of Bulgaria.

Being situated on 7 fertile hills on the two banks of the Maritsa River, it is often linked to the Roman settlements  as there are numerous famous sites since that times.

This incredibly rich history has given Plovdiv one of the most charming old towns in Eastern Europe, mixing the antic sites with mediaval streets and sacral buildings, recent communist era statues and building and nowadays modern squares and pedestrian roades.

This was my entrance to the city of huge contrasts: for the moment I thought I am passing Dubai. I must admit, the bus driver had a special taste for folk music. -_-

Anyhow,  the ancient myth of Orpheus in the lands of ancient Thrace, is right here in Plovdiv, situated between the Rhodope Mountains (the legendary homeland of Orpheus). Thereby, the Ancient theatre of Philipoppol as one of the best-preserved ancient theatres in the World!

The other important ancient site is The Stadium of Trimontium in Plovdiv. It is among the largest structures from the time of the Ancient Rome in the Balkan peninsula. The citizens still nowadays like to gather at the attached Forum / Agora and socialize, as the modern coffee places and bars are incorporated into the site.

As I said, the city was built on 7 hills of Rhodopi mountain. On the one of the hills is nowadays placed the Old town. The complex has been formed as a result of the long sequence of habitation from prehistoric times to present days and combines the architecture from Antiquity, Middle Ages and Bulgarian revival.

Behind me, up on the hill is the House of Argir Hristov Kuyumdzhioglu, a merchant from Plovdiv, who built this house in 19 century as a prominent homespun trader who owned a company in Vienna.

The house is mostly made of wood with sophisticated decorations.

After the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878, Argir Kuyumdzhioglu left Plovdiv to settle in Istanbul (Constantinople). The house was converted into a girls’ boarding house.

My favourite part of Plovdiv is the Kapana district! The part of  cty where the craftsmen and rich merchants lived. Kapana means ‘the trap” since once you enter its narrow  and tangeld streets, you get lost easily.

The district was a business-centre for craftsmen 5 centuries ago, so don’t be surprised of street names like Kozhuharska (Leather Str), Zhelezarska (Iron Str) and Zlatarska (Gold Str). Nowadays you will not find traditions craftsmen here but contemporary creative entrepreneurs converting the district into a real art centre and dedicated to creative industries.

Speaking about the streets named by craftsmen, I couldn’t not to see the street named after my birth city, also famous by craftsmen and it’s Old town Kaptol.

All little streets are part of the city’s pedestrian zone, so I really enjoyed walking around noticing galleries, workshops, ateliers, studios, cozy restaurants and shops, as well as other art spaces…

Another interesting district was the one with old factories. In 1939 there were 16,000 craftsmen and 17,000 workers in manufacturing factories, mainly for food and tobacco processing. During the Second World War the tobacco industry expanded, mostly led by Jews. It was the time of economic boom.

In 1943 the first deportation of the bulgarian Jews to concentration camps have started, factories are to be shoted down for the war times…

During the communist times it was in a full speed, producing heavy industrial products, being crowded with busy working class mostly used by the governent.

The district is nowadays is destroyed completely but with the idea to be re-newed again, especially since the Plovdiv is selected as Bulgarian host of European Capital of Culture in 2019.

From that time, the witnesses are many communist monuments and flat buildings with big letters, typical for the architectural style of socialism.

Typical example is the post office of the photo below. I learnt, that once stood there a beautiful Bauhaus building…

After the World War II, Bulgaria was deliberated by the Soviet troops, which is perpetuated with the Alyosha Monument – the momument to the unknown soviet soldier that commemorates the arrival of the Soviet troops. It also marks the end of World War II.

The manin street is entirely pedestrian zone with many shops, as the commercial sector is developing quickly in Bulgaria.

 But what I mostly liked in the main street is the statue of Muljo – the deaf wanderer. 

Apparently, Muljo was a citizen, likeable by the others, but unfortunately dead. The city of Plovdiv, after his death decided to raise the monument dedicated to his social spirit.

Bulgaria is known by the good wines, as the vineyards around Plovdiv are some of the oldest in the world.

My Bulgarian colleagues have brought me  to a very specific and  traditional place where we stayed long in the night.

Last year I went to see football match Croatia vs Portugal in quarter finals at Euro 2016 in Lens, France. Small city on the north – east of France, close to Lille.

The city is not so big at all, but it became famous as the French built the football stadium which can accommodate more fans than the city holds the inhabitants. 🙂  Crazy, right?

The stadium is called oficially The Stade Bollaert-Delelis built in 1933 and renovated for the 2016 European Championships.

Upon our arrival, the atmosphere was great! I was holding my Croatian flag and strumbling upon the city with other football fans, singing songs and trembling before the match.

Croatia lost the game, sadly as we had a good team. Portugal won the entire championship by not scoring any of the mathes in first 90 mins of the match. Football is a random lottery game sometimes, and CR7 just a vanity.

But let’s move forward.

We had lunch in the center and some local beer at the tavern La Mi-Temps.

The city has one main pedestrian street which leeds to a main square and the church.

Upon my arrival to this small city in the southeast of Netherlands, located on both sides of the Meuse river, I could have not notice so many bikes parked along the the train station building. 🙂 Afer all, it is a Dutch city!

There is some debate as to whether Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands. However, Maastricht has become known, by way of the Maastricht Treaty, as the birthplace of the European Union, European citizenship, and the single European currency, the euro.

The city’s name has meaning ‘crossing at the Meuse.’ The place started as the Celts then Roman settlement,  continuing as part of the heartland of the Carolingian Empire along with Aachen and the area around Liège, Belgium.

Around 570, the first stone church was built on the grave of Servatius, the present-day Basilica of Saint Servatius – an armenian missionary, today patron of Maastricht.

The Basilica of Saint Servatius is a gothic church with a severe religious significance of the city.  The most depicting is south portal’s late Romanesque sculptures for the early development of Gothic sculpture in France.

As the day was grey with not many people in the streets, I got lower vibes of the city. But I was recognizing the beauty of the facades here and there… Streets can tell the story by itself, if you manage to read them prperly and give a time to observe them…

Jews’ street

Virgin Mary in the facade of some wealth house

One of the attractions is the the old mill, which was built in the 17th century by Franciscan, and now used for making bread. The oven is part of the facility. As you can see on the photo below, everything is made of wood and well preserved.

RSecrets are always fun, aren’t they? Well, I found the second biggest french city very mysterious. Between courtyards and through buildings, there are many secret alleyways and staircases once provided safe and efficient passage for silk workers to get their wares to and from market unmarred. Now partially open to the public, many of the traboules worm through several buildings forming a secret continuous covered passageway and showing the courtyard of beautiful renaissance houses of Lyon.

The word traboule comes from the Latin trans ambulare, meaning ‘to cross’. Once inside, every traboule is different, but ist is worth to see some of them and imagine the history of its times. Charming! 🙂

Especially famous is Rue de Boeuf (beef street) as it used to be a long market area, vivid and dynamic.

The Croix-Rousse district of Lyon was the heart of the 19th century silk trade and some porculain too.

The city is enclosed by two rivers: Rhône and Saône, creating the peninsula of the city or “Presqu’île“, where the city settled at first. This district is called Vieux Lyon – the original mediaeval city. I was impressed! 🙂

The historical centre is also the best place to eat local food. There are many small squares with typical bouchons (small lyonnaise restaurants) offering you a small folding table with carved rustic tablecloth and a romantic flower on it.

Lyon has a long and chronicled culinary arts tradition. On the menu are mostly offals as local specialty (not my favourite choose), like chicken liver or rinced meat and rinced pork heart in porks bowel. The dish is called ”mâchons,” as it was cooked for workers who ate a late-morning meal after they finished their shifts in the factories. A very well – known red wine comes to this from the valley of Rhone, Côtes du Rhône.

Usually, the aristocracy of later ages (18 century onwards) was living in big bourgeois houses with classical facades.

The main square Bellecour can be approached by Lafayette bridge. In the late 12th century, the archbishop of Lyon had a vineyard there called Bella curtis (Beau jardin in French or Beautiful garden in English). The statue of Louis XIV adorns the square.

Notice the huge basilica on the Fourvière hill! It took me more then 300 steps and half an hour time through the Rosemary path while climbing up to see this 19 century Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. 

Rosemary path, pilgrims on their way to basilica

Rosemary path, statue of st Theresa

The basilica is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to whom is attributed the salvation of the city of Lyon from the bubonic plague, the Black Death, that swept Europe in 1643. The Virgin is also credited with saving the city a number of other times, such as from a Cholera epidemic in 1832, and from Prussian invasion in 1870.

Anyhow, I believe it s the most beautiful church I have seen from the inside, or at least comparable to the St John’s Co-Cathedral in Malta.

From the hill stretches beaautiful view on the city of Lyon, its rivers and far far away can be seen Alps as well.

The second important church is actually the Cathedrale St- Jean – Baptiste. The cathedral was founded by Saint Pothinus and Saint Irenaeus, the first two bishops of Lyon who are now saints patrons of the city. Firts construction started in 11th century.

The cathedral also has the Astronomical Clock from the 14th century, which is the oldest in France and one of the oldest in the World. The clock indicates hours, minutes, dates, position of the Sun and the Moon relative to the Earth and also rising of the brightest stars above Lyons. The clock’s chime is accompanied by movements of figures situated in the upper part of the clock depicting scenes on religious themes.

As I was walking down the promenade of the river Rhône, the sun was strolling down the river too, reflecting its rays of the water. There were bar-boats parked next to the jogging pathway with relaxed music on and people having cocktails.

I ended up to the Croix-Rousse district where the industrial revolution of 19th century was happening. There were many inventions and movements happening. Brothers’ Lumiere invented the first motioned picture, starting to manufacture the cinematograpy… Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote his short novel Little Prince… and all that and more is commemorated in great murals of this district, capturing the spirit of the epoche…