The Varnites (the Varnians? the Varish?) may claim that Varna is really the second-largest city in Bulgaria, - but, in terms of its historical importance, there is no comparison. Plovdiv (map), along with Edirne, and Thessalonica, was one of the three economic powerhouses of Ottoman Europe.
House of Stoyan Chomakov (1860)
Plovdiv was also supposed to be the capital of the new state of Bulgaria, - at least according to the Treaty of San Stefano signed after the tenth(!) Russo-Turkish War. Unfortunately for Plovdiv, though, a united Bulgaria was, geopolitically-speaking, just not cricket at the time, and the Congress of Berlin decided that it would be far preferable for Plovdiv and the region of Eastern Rumelia to remain in the Ottoman Empire. Which it did, if only for another seven years, but, by then...
Nevertheless, Plovdiv still boasts many fine remnants of its prosperity through the ages, both under the Ottoman Empire, and before.
House of Argir Kuyumdzhioglu (1847)
Paul on the Road to Damascus (1836-1840)
Church of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena
Church of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena
Roman Theatre (early 2nd AD)
My favourite view of Plovdiv summarises this quite nicely. Below be seen a statue of Philip II of Macedon, a thin wedge of the Roman Stadium, one of the few surviving mosques in the city, and a National Revival building in the background, - over two thousand years!
Plovdiv through the ages
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