Many believe that the glory of Plovdiv is gone and that Philippopolis is famous mostly with its ancient history. Perhaps the decline in the Middle Ages, when the city became a bargaining chip in Balkan and European relations, is the reason for this ... And maybe the reason is elsewhere. Little is known about the Modern history of the city, and in particular its importance for the Balkan and Bulgarian National Revival in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Plovdiv again became the center of Eastern European civilization and again returned to its historical role to serve as a bridge between the Balkan peoples, between Orient and Europe, between East and West...