The Renaissance town of Old Plovdiv was built during the 19th century. Today it has survived as a unique architectural ensemble on the three hills. Its houses reveal the remarkable urban culture of Bulgarian builders, as well as their sense of harmony and their creative power.
Today Old Plovdiv is an autonomous area within the modern town with a municipality of its own. It is declared an architectural museum reserve with over 150 monuments of culture - buildings from the National Revival period. Its magnificent houses are turned into museums, galleries, workshops, restaurants, and pubs. Some of the more interesting houses from the Bulgarian Revival Period are Mavridi House, Nedkovich House, Stepan Hindliyan House, Balabanov’s House, Kyumyurdzhiev’s House (now an Ethnographical museum), etc. Different buildings in the Old Town keep collections of the Town’s Art Gallery. Temples and public buildings from the Revival Period that completed the spiritual and cultural lives of the intelligent Plovdiv people have also survived to this day.