Plovdiv

Plovdiv is a big city in Bulgaria. Only one city in Bulgaria is bigger: Sofia, the capital.

Plovdiv's old town sits on rocky hills.

Universalis says Plovdiv was for a long time the most populous city in Bulgaria, and it is now the second. It is the center of the province of the same name and a center of culture.

Bulgaria's census of 7 September 2021 counted 319,612 people in Plovdiv. The National Statistical Institute's estimate for 31 December 2025 is 333,994.

Universalis: long the most populous of Bulgarian cities, Plovdiv, an important crossroads, was a major place of trade on the rich plains of the Maritsa and on the route between Istanbul and the Adriatic; it remains Bulgaria's second city (319,600 at the 2021 census), the administrative center of the province of the same name and a cultural hub.

National Statistical Institute via City Population (city of Plovdiv): census 1 February 2011 338,153; census 7 September 2021 319,612; estimate 31 December 2025 333,994 (rank 2, after Sofia).

This photo was taken from the top of a hill. You can see lots of houses with red roofs and green trees. A rocky hill rises in the middle.

This photo looks over the old town of Plovdiv from Bunardzhik Hill on 10 July 2018. Houses with red-tiled roofs climb between green trees, and a bare rocky hill rises in the middle. Farther away, the city spreads out across a flat plain toward mountains on the horizon.

Universalis says the old town, at once Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, clings to rocky peaks and draws many visitors with its unusual, well-kept heritage.

Commons: 'View over Old Town from Bunardzhik Hill - Plovdiv - Bulgaria - 01', Flickr photo by Adam Jones (transferred to Commons by the account Adam63; FlickreviewR passed), CC BY-SA 2.0, taken 10 July 2018; category Views of Plovdiv.

Universalis: the old town, at once Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, clinging to rocky peaks, is very popular with tourists thanks to its singular and well-preserved heritage; archaeological sites (two Roman theaters) are particularly numerous. Wikidata: Bunardzhik (Q12274023), a hill, 0.39 km NW of the city point.

Many people in Plovdiv work in factories that make food and other things. The city also has schools, old Roman theaters and lots of visitors.

Universalis says Plovdiv's factories process farm products from the plain: canned fruit and vegetables and tobacco, along with machines and textiles. Since the end of the 1990s its work has become more varied. The Trakia industrial zone employs several tens of thousands of people in transport, food and new technology.

Plovdiv's schools, colleges and cultural centers make it a true provincial capital, and in 2019 it was named a European Capital of Culture.

Universalis: industries spread across the city process local farm products (fruit and vegetable canning, tobacco processing, machines, textiles), diversified from the end of the 1990s; only Sofia has more varied activities; industry still leads, notably the Trakia industrial zone, employing several tens of thousands in transport, agri-food and new technologies; its socio-cultural facilities and schools make it a true provincial capital with influence over the other towns of the plain and the Rhodope; this richness and diversity led to its being named European Capital of Culture in 2019.