Lettera Publishing House is pleased to invite Plovdiv residents and guests to the next edition of the "Spiritual Routes in Plovdiv 2023", which will be held in two stages - in June and in September-October.

The project is funded by Plovdiv Municipality under Component 1 "Festivals and significant events" and is part of the city's Cultural Calendar for 2023.

Schedule for the first "Spiritual Routes in Plovdiv" in June 2023.

Plovdiv model of tolerant existence of different ethnic and religious communities

03.06.2023, Saturday, 10:30 am.

Meeting point: Monument to the salvation of the Jews of Plovdiv on Tsar Kaloyan Square at the House of the newlyweds

Leader.: Dr. Stefan Shivachev - Historian, author of publications on the history of the Plovdiv region, leader of international and national projects.

Since the Antiquity, Plovdiv has developed as one of the world's imperial cities with a population of different ethnicities, each with their own religious cults and beliefs. To the local Thracian population was added a Greek ethnic element, and in the Middle Ages Bulgarians, Armenians and heretics from the eastern provinces of Byzantium. After the Ottoman conquest, the Turkish Muslim population predominated, and after the sixteenth century the Sephardic Jews, expelled from Spain, arrived. In the 19th-20th centuries, the city was a haven for Armenians expelled from Turkey, and it played a significant role as a colony for Europeans. They all found a place in the economic and social life of the city and left an indelible mark on its history. The itinerary traces the establishment over the centuries of this pattern of existence, the main ethnic and religious communities and their temple and cultural heritage.

Itinerary: Early Christianity in Philippopolis

10.06.2023, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

Meeting point: Saedinenie Square

Leader: Maya Martinova-Kyutova, archaeologist

Maya Martinova-Kyutova is a researcher of some of the most significant archaeological sites in Plovdiv, she participated in the projects for the exposure of the Odeon, Forum-North, the Stadium of Philippopolis, the East Gate.

Philippopolis was a major urban centre in the Roman province of Thrace. Already in pagan times the Christian religion began to penetrate among the population. In the 4th century AD, the Roman Empire began to spread. The city was the capital of the province of Thrace and the seat of an episcopal see. Did the apostle Paul visit Philippopolis? Who were the earliest martyrs for the faith? Archaeologist Maya Martinova-Kyutova will answer these questions. The characteristic features of the town-planning of Philippopolis in the early Christian era will be clarified - cult buildings - basilicas and martyrium, features of public architecture, where the Philippopolis Counter-Council was held in 343.

In the Archaeological Museum the participants will be introduced to an outstanding monument of early Christian culture - the Tomb with frescoes, where Christian symbols and Gospel scenes are depicted - the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of the paralytic.

Itinerary:  Ancient Theatre of Philippopolis

17.06.2023, Saturday, 10:00 am.

Meeting point:  Ancient Theatre

Leader:  Maya Martinova-Kyutova, archaeologist

The Ancient Theatre is one of the most remarkable and interesting monuments of the cultural and historical heritage of Plovdiv. Topics to be discussed include when and how the theatre was discovered, the history of the survey and architectural features of the ancient building. Who was Titus Flavius Cotis, for whom a statue was erected? What important moments in the history of Philippopolis do the discovered epigraphic monuments reveal. What was the Ancient Theatre used for - for theatrical performances or an administrative building in which the Coinon Thracon, the assembly of Thracian cities, met. Were gladiatorial combats held on its stage? What secrets are hidden in the underground rooms beneath the stage.

Itinerary: The spiritual elite of Plovdiv during the Bulgarian Revival

24.06.2023, Saturday, 10:30 am.

Meeting point: The Seventh Hill

Leader:  Dr. Stefan Shivachev, historian

The nineteenth century was the time of the second peak in the historical development of Plovdiv after the Antiquity, when the Bulgarian ethnic element that had disappeared for centuries was revived.