Holiday in Bulgaria 6/6- Plovdiv, Koprivshtitsa

After seeing all the main attractions in Sofia, there is time for another day trip, to visit Plovdiv and Koprivshtitsa in the mountainous region.

Plovdiv is the 2nd biggest city in Bulgaria, and is one of the longest continuously inhabited place in Europe.

Even Alexander the Great had conquered there and left behind part of the city wall. Roman settled next and left behind numerous ruins underground. So far only a theatre is completely uncovered and rebuilt, the Roman stadium is only partially excavated and the rest is still lying under the main pedestrian street.

 

 

The 19th C old center up a small hill, is turned into a living museum, with many houses restored and turned into museums, galleries, shops, hotels and restaurants.

It is really great to wander around to see these Art Revival period buildings. A common feature is the extension done on 2 & 3 floors , a way to minimise land tax, beautiful done. Pay a visit to Klianti House to see the opulent furniture of that era, westernised, but maintained the vibrantly decorated ceilings, a style from the Ottoman period.

Next is Koprivshtitsa UNESCO village, a renovation project supported by Japanese specialists to maintain the 18th-19th C mostly farm houses built on the slope. Again lots of dark wood used and the whole place ooze a peaceful yesteryear’s charm.

Dinner at Staria Chinar, occupying a 3 floors old house, with many rooms to dine in. They serve western and traditional dishes, we tried baked super sweet red peppers, grilled duck hearts, pig ear, game sausage and deep fried calf brain, very unique ingredients and all delicious.


首都Sofia 景點不多，市容又不怎麼值得閒逛，反而山區有很多古城古蹟可欣賞，參加了本地團到Plovdiv 和 Koprivshtitsa。

Plovdiv是歐洲最古老的城市，數千年來持續有人居住。約百年前發現一世紀羅馬人佔據時期建的露天劇場，掘挖後所有雲石座位樑柱已經放回原位，重現當年盛況，現在夏季用作表演場地。

隨後又發掘出羅馬時期的長形競技場，只有部份出土，餘下的大部份，仍然長埋大街下，估計尚有無數古蹟有待發掘。

沿小山而建的老區，是十九世紀時期的富豪大宅集中地，不少被政府收購，維修復元，現在成為博物館、酒店、餐廳和商店。欣賞那年代的有錢人，有品味地展示財富。大量木建築，部分油上濃厚色彩、細緻花紋，為減少付地稅，把二樓、三樓加大，效果優雅美觀，好有看頭。

那是Ottoman 帝國末期，受西方文藝復興感染，內部陳設，以西方枱椅為主，唯一沿用的 Ottoman 設計，是重視天花，各間房子仰觀都有令人目眩的色彩和圖案。

隨後參觀的山區 UNESCO 點Koprivshtitsa，是依山而建的農村，房屋細小些，樸素些，顏色少些，安祥平和，人在其中，也似少沾點塵俗。

Holiday in Bulgaria 5/6- Sofia

Spend a full day wandering around Sofia, visiting all the main sites, most are within walking distance to each other. As most are religious sites built 500 to 1000 years ago, it is easy to see at that time, Bulgaria was the crossroads between Asia and Europe, inhabited by diverse groups of various races of people and there was a good tolerance to different religions.

Sofia synagogue

Banya Bashi Mosqu

Cathedral st Alexander Nevsky

 

Basilica st Sofia  - The humble raw brick look of the Basilica is beautiful, and the Roman ruin underneath is worth a detour. 

Church st Nicholas de miracles maker -small but ornate church, rich with details

The most interesting and actually very well organised visit is The Red Flat - using audio and a suitably furnished flat, it tells the story of how Bulgarian lived during the communist era.

Sofia street scenes

Dinner at Izbata Tavern, the stew meat with fermented cabbage is delicious, cold yogurt cucumber soup is work a try. 

花了一整天遊走首都Sofia 名勝景點，在第二次世界大戰被轟炸得嚴重，維修復元的以宗教建築物為主，走在最有名的 Vitosha 大道上，華麗上世紀建築物不多。九十年代獨立後，經濟亦不理想，所以亦未見新一代奪目設計。花園多、路旁樹木多、汽車不多、路闊空間感好，是優點。

步行範圍內，就有清真寺、猶太教堂、東正教大教堂、東正教小教堂和前身是羅馬天主教堂多個建築物。

這幾天參觀了不少教堂，宗教淵源相同，看了多回終於看到建築上的相同與不同處。最簡單看，清真寺、猶太教堂和東正教堂都是四方形的大堂，上有巨大圓拱頂，而天主教堂是十字形設計，拱頂在前方。

清真寺和東正教堂都只是個大空間，沒有坐椅，前者坐下因而有地氈，後者站立。猶太教堂和天主教堂都有排排坐位，但猶太教堂定有二樓坐位，供女士用。

參觀一眾教堂，欣賞設計外，亦明白到當年，各宗教曾經一度，在左右附近平和共處。

最特別的參觀項目，是由年輕人策畫的 The Red Flat ，租了一個民居，擺設在共產政權時期的傢俬電器用品衣物等，參觀者一面看、觸摸，同時聆聽一個家庭如何生活的故事，用意是令人不要忘記歷史。一個多小時，解釋清楚仔細而生動，好難得。