Balkan Experience - Day Trip to Koprivshtitsha and Plovdiv, Bulgaria - 27 September 2026 - Part 1

The bus tour to the two cities was scheduled to start at 8 am, but the tour company had sent a message asking me to report to the meeting point, in front of the Slovenia Embassy, at 7.45 am. I had breakfast of Muesli and milk and a couple of biscuits before leaving the accommodation. The air was a bit nippy and I was glad that I was wearing my pullover. The walk to the meeting point from the accommodation was hardly 10 minutes.

On the way, I came across the Monument to Vasil Levski, a monument dedicated to the Apostle of Freedom. The monument was ceremoniously unveiled on October 22, 1895, after the liberation from Ottoman rule. The monument commemorates the hanging of the Bulgarian national hero and major revolutionary Vasil Levski on the same spot on 18 February 1873 by the Ottoman administration.

At the meeting point, I reported to Svet, the tour guide. He told me that I could take some time before the tour began to have breakfast and use the restroom. While waiting for the tour bus to arrive I walked around the neighbourhood of the Slovenia Embassy, during when I came across a striking sculpture outside the building housing the National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases. The sculpture "Motherhood" was created in 1938 by the Bulgarian sculptor Ivan Funev, who is known for his realistic and socially engaged sculpture work in Bulgaria. The sculpture depicts a robust, nurturing rural mother holding a sleeping infant in her arms, with three smaller children gathered and playing around her skirts.

Average fuel prices in Bulgaria are at approximately €1.68 per litre for A95 gasoline and €1.94 per litre for diesel. The price also vary depending on the fuel station chain. The cheaper chains are Insa Oil and Eko Petrol, the mid-range ones are Lukoil and Petrol and the premium chains are OMV and Shell.

The tour bus left at exactly 8 am with most of the seats taken. It was a combined tour for Italian and English-speaking tourists. Svet was the English-speaking guide and Marianne the Italian speaking guide. They explained the itinerary which, they said, would also include a Thracian temple between Koprivshtitsha and Plovdiv.

The first part of the tour was to Koprivshtitsa, a historic museum town set in the Sredna Gora mountains of Bulgaria. It is famous for its 19th-century National Revival architecture and its central role in the 1876 April Uprising. It has been declared a national architectural and historical reserve with nearly 390 preserved architectural monuments. It is a town with cobblestone streets, colourful painted houses, flowing streams, and traditional stone bridges.

Svet gave us a briefing about how important Koprivshtitsha was an important rallying area for those who wanted freedom from Ottoman rule. All such like-minded people had moved into the city and it flourished. The square is where they used to aggregate to discuss strategy and future course of action. Near the present-day square is a small colourful building that has the flag of the rebel movement on it. The green flag depicts a lion trampling the Ottoman flag.

The April uprising, despite its careful planning, came unstuck because of betrayal from within. The poorly armed and outnumbered Bulgarian insurgents were brutally suppressed by Ottoman forces, resulting in mass casualties and atrocities. Although a military failure, the uprising succeeded politically. It led to events that finally resulted in the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878.

We came across a memorial to the famous writer and poet from Koprivshtitsa, Dimcho Debelyanov. However, he tragically lost his life during World War I. He was killed on October 2, 1916, at the age of 29 during a battle against an Irish division near Gorno Karadjovo in present-day Greece. Today, his beautiful childhood home in Koprivshtitsa operates as a museum dedicated to his deeply nostalgic poetry and his life as a soldier.

The historic Church "Assumption of Virgin Mary" in Koprivshtitsa was built in 1817 on the site of an older temple burned down during Ottoman rule. The church was erected in approximately 11 days by local master builders from Smolsko and Mirkovo. It was designed as a low, three-nave pseudo-basilica partly dug into the ground to comply with Ottoman height restrictions of the era.

The highlight of the church is a remarkable wooden iconostasis carved by master Hadji Georgi of Vidin and houses valuable National Revival icons. The churchyard contains graves of prominent historical figures, including the poet Dimcho Debelyanov. The tomb of the young writer is truly poignant. The tomb has a lady in mourning sitting near the tomb, portraying not only the grieving mother, but all of Bulgaria.

Another one of the braves of Koprivshtitsha was Todor Kableshkov, who is remembered as one of the most courageous Bulgarian revolutionaries, especially considering the young age at which he entered the revolutionary movement. He had been assigned an important position in the railways by the Ottomans. However, his heart was in the service of his people who were under oppression from the rule. With the failure of the April uprising, he was captured and torture before he committed suicide in the police station.

Todor's home in Koprivshtitsa is now a museum. Built in 1845, the house is a stunning example of Bulgarian National Revival architecture. It commemorates Todor Kableshkov, the leader of the local secret revolutionary committee who famously penned the "Blood Letter" in 1876 to proclaim the start of the April Uprising against Ottoman rule. The house and Todor's life reinforce the fact that the April uprising was not banditry, but a studied rebellion with leadership of the educated and the wealthy. A monument was built on the place he decided to start the rebellion. His grave is also in the cemetery of the churchyard.

The village has a bridge called the Bridge of the First Shot (Kalachev Bridge). The historic stone bridge over the Topolnitsa River is where the first shot of the 1876 April Uprising was fired. The Bulgarian rebel Georgi Tihanek shot a Turkish Ottoman police officer, signalling the start of the April Uprising which ultimately led to Bulgaria's liberation.

En route to Plovdiv we stopped for a short while at the mural village of Staro Zhelezare. It is famous for its outdoor gallery of political figures, global celebrities, and local villagers painted on building facades. The art project was initiated by Polish artists Katarzyna and Ventzislav Piriankov (hosted at the Piriankov Art Center in the village) for the internship of their students. The open-air exhibition blends rural life with international pop culture and politics. The village lanes reveal mural portraits of world leaders, Hollywood stars, and artists painted side-by-side with the elderly local residents.

The village also has a version of the "Carrying the Wounded" sculpture by renowned Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić. Created originally in the 1940s, the piece symbolizes the humanism and sacrifice of the anti-fascist resistance and partisan struggle during World War II, echoing traditional Piéta compositions.