Plovdiv is the modern site of the ancient city of Philipopolis. It is charming from the get go and given the range of things to see here, it is no wonder it was named Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2019. On our list of ‘must see’ items are 5 things that no trip to Plovdiv is complete without.
Arriving late on a Sunday afternoon the locals are dancing traditional Bulgarian style in Dzhumaya Square. Music sweeps both dancers and spectators up in its rhythm. I glance over my shoulder and Roman ruins greet me, lying in wait to be noticed. This ancient city has layers of history to explore from Emperor Hadrian’s time and the Ottoman occupation right through to the present. Right now the Stadium of Philipopolis waits to be explored.
Stadium of Philipopolis
Although parts of the stadium are now exposed to the weather again, the whole site lay hidden under modern Plovdiv’s Main Street, some as recently as 2010. The existence of the stadium itself was only discovered in 1923 and most of the ancient ruins still remain hidden just below our feet.
We stand in Dzhumaya Square and gaze down at the excavated part of the track and a semi circular section of seating. However, if you descend the stairs and enter through the original portico, you get a sense of the scale and grandeur of this ancient stadium.
As we enter the stadium proper, the seating behind us, a panorama of the scene that would have greeted us millennia ago unfolds. The area appears huge, stretching out in front of us whereby full, the crowds and noise would have been immense.
History
The Staduium of Philipopolis was built at the beginning of the 2nd Century AD during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
The 240m long, 50m wide stadium with capacity for 30,000 spectators sits under Plovdiv’s present day Main Street. Small portions of this Ancient Roman stadium have been revealed, however the majority of the structure remains un excavated. The parts that have been revealed give us a glimpse into the fascinating ancient past of this modern day city.
The stadium had its heyday at the beginning of the 3rd Century whereby the Games were organized by the General Assembly of the Thracian Provence. During the two most famous years, the Roman Emperors Caracalla and his successor Elagabalus (214AD and 218AD respectively) were honored.
Tiered in 14 rows I can almost hear a bustling Thracian crowd cheering, pushing and shoving to find a seat, vying for a position to see the games and the visiting Emperor. The best seats were marked with inscriptions reserving them for high ranking public officials and important families with social standing.
The steps are well worn. The seating is alternately smooth from the bottoms of many crowds or cracked and broken from time and weather.
Exiting the site, there are fragments of ruins in the tunnel under the main portico. Parts of an aqua duct that still remain. It’s hard to imagine the rest as it would have been. Harder still to fathom that we have only discovered this very small section of the past.
Good To Know
The main site can be viewed from the vantage points in the Main Street and in Dzhumaya Square. However, it is well worth taking the time to go into the site proper. The sense of scale and grandeur is completely different when sitting in one of the ancient tiers of the stadium.
We toured Bulgaria with Adriana from Private Guide Bulgaria. See also:
Would I Return?
No. While interesting, the Ancient Stadium of Philipopolis itself is too small to warrant returning to.
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