Stara Zagora Highlights
Eight thousand years of history in the Bulgarian city of linden trees, from Europe's best-preserved Neolithic houses to a Roman forum, a poet's house and a working brewery museum.
Trip Stops
- 1
A museum built around two 8,000-year-old houses still standing where they were found in 1968. Kitchens, ovens, grain mills and pots are intact, making them among the best-preserved Neolithic homes in Europe.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 2
The city's giant hilltop park, planted from 1895 by Metropolitan Metodi Kusev, holds over 150 exotic tree and shrub species. Local tradition links its holy spring to Prince Boris I's conversion to Christianity, and there's a hall of distorting mirrors.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 3
The central square of Roman Augusta Traiana, founded under Emperor Trajan, was found by accident during construction of the courthouse. Today it's an open-air ruin beside the western city gate that also hosts opera galas.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
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Founded in 1925, it is Bulgaria's oldest opera company outside Sofia. Its 1971 building was the country's first made for opera, burned down in 1991, and reopened in 2010 with Bizet's Carmen.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 5
The hourglass-shaped building sits over a preserved stretch of Augusta Traiana's main Roman street. Inside are around 100,000 artifacts, including the stone lioness-and-cub relief that became the city's coat of arms.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 6
The only public building to survive the 1877 burning of the city, this early 15th-century mosque has preserved frescoes. Excavations under it uncovered a 10th–11th century Christian church and a Thracian sanctuary.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 7
The birthplace museum of Bulgaria's avant-garde poet, who lost his right eye to a shell in WWI. It opened in 1953 and holds over 3,000 items from his life and work.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
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A 50-metre concrete monolith shaped like the Samara Flag crowns a hill reached by about a hundred steps. Built in 1977 for the 100th anniversary of the 1877 battle, it includes an ossuary and gives sweeping views over the city.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- 9
Dr. Konstantin Kozhuharov founded the brewery in 1902, and it's now Bulgaria's largest. A certified museum inside the working plant shows 130+ exhibits, including an original 1902 bottle, and the tour ends with a tasting.
📍 Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
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