Plovdiv—A Modern City With Ancient Roots!

PLOVDIV is older than Rome, Carthage, or Constantinople. Some 350,000 people live in this city, which sprawls over seven hills in south-central Bulgaria.

Walk down the city’s ancient streets, and you will see abundant evidence of its glorious, tumultuous past. Edifices built by the Thracians, a feared race that lived hundreds of years before the Common Era, can be seen, as well as Greek pillars, Roman theaters, and Turkish minarets.

The “Loveliest of All Cities”

Archaeological discoveries in and around the city reveal that it was inhabited well before the first millennium B.C.E. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that before the fourth century B.C.E., a Thracian fortified settlement named Eumolpias existed at the site of present-day Plovdiv. In 342 B.C.E., Eumolpias was conquered by Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great. Philip changed the city’s name to Philippopolis.

When the Romans gained control of the city in 46 C.E., they called the city Trimontium and made it the capital of Thrace. The Romans were eager to hold this city because it straddled the Via Diagonalis, an important crossroad of the Balkan region. The Romans added a stadium, an amphitheater (seen above), numerous baths, and many other typically Roman buildings.

Lucian of Samosata described the natural beauty of this city, which was set among three hills at the base of the Rhodope Mountains.

“THE

CITY OF SEVEN HILLS”

A modern visitor to Plovdiv may find it hard to locate the city’s famed seven hills, or tepes, as they are called. A hundred years ago, one of the hills, Markovo Tepe, was demolished as the city expanded. Six hills remain as silent witnesses of Plovdiv’s ancient past.

Three are obvious to the visitor: Bunardjik Tepe, Djendem Tepe, and Sahat Tepe, called such by the Turks because of the clock tower built on this hill. Trimontium, as the Romans called Plovdiv, comprises the three remaining hills: Djambaz Tepe, the largest and highest hill; Taksim Tepe; and Nebet Tepe, which in Turkish means “Guard Hill.”

A stroll through the area of Trimontium takes one into the heart of Plovdiv’s past, from the ancient ruins and walls of Philippopolis to the still-functioning Roman theater. Of interest too are the well-preserved houses of the Bulgarian National Revivalist era that line the narrow cobbled streets.

It lay near the Maritsa River, with the fertile Thracian plain spreading out before it. Lucian wrote that Trimontium was “the greatest and loveliest of all cities!”

After the decline of Rome in what came to be called the Dark Ages, Slavic peoples settled the area. Over the next few centuries, crusaders looted the town on four separate occasions. Then, in the 14th century, a political change took place when the city fell to the Turks. They renamed the city Philibé and remained the city’s masters until 1878. The Jumaia Mosque with its minaret and sundial still stands as a reminder of that time.

When Russia defeated Turkey in 1878, the city’s name was changed from Philibé to Plovdiv. The city was given an economic boost in 1892 when it hosted a trade fair. From then on, Plovdiv became the main trading center of Bulgaria. During the second world war, the Nazis briefly controlled the city but were ousted by the Soviets in 1944. Then, in 1989, Plovdiv slipped from the grip of yet another mighty empire when the Soviet Union collapsed. Some of Plovdiv’s past masters may have been sincere; still, they were hampered by the imperfections that characterize human rule.

SUN LIGHT EXPOSURE:Should you worry about it?

“As ozone depletion becomes more marked and as people around the world engage more in sun-seeking behaviour, the risk of developing health complications from over-exposure to UV [ultraviolet] radiation is becoming a substantial public health concern.”—DR. LEE JONG-WOOK, FORMER DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.

MARTIN, a fair-skinned man from Northern Europe, fell asleep in the shade of a beach umbrella on the Italian coast. When he awoke, he found that the shade had moved and that his legs were no longer white but an angry red. “I had to go to the hospital emergency room,” Martin explains. “My legs were as stiff and swollen as two sausages. In the two or three days that followed, I was in terrible pain. I could neither stand nor bend my legs. The skin was so tight that I was afraid it would burst.”

Many believe that only light-skinned people like Martin need to fear exposure to sunlight. However, while darker-skinned people have greater protection against sunburn, they can still develop skin cancer. And their cancer often goes undetected until it reaches a dangerous stage. Other dangers connected with overexposure to the sun include damage to the eyes and to the immune system, problems that may not appear until years after the damage is done.

Of course, the level of UV radiation is generally higher the closer one gets to the equator. So those living in the Tropics or the subtropics and those traveling to such areas should take extra precautions. One reason for doing so is that the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer has reportedly become thinner in recent years. Let’s examine some of the potential dangers posed by overexposure to the sun.

Eye Damage

As many as 15 million people earth wide are blind because of cataracts, the world’s leading cause of blindness. Cataracts form when proteins in an eye’s lens unravel, tangle, and accumulate pigments that cloud the lens. Cataracts are one of the long-term effects of exposure to UV radiation. In fact, it is estimated that up to 20 percent of cataracts are caused or worsened by chronic sun exposure.

Sadly, the so-called cataract belt near the equator includes developing countries where the majority of people are poor. Thus, millions of poor people in Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America are blind because they cannot afford to have an operation to remove their cataracts.

Damage to the Skin

One third of all cancers diagnosed worldwide are skin cancers. Some 130,000 new cases of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, are reported each year. And between two and three million new cases of other skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, occur. It is estimated that some 66,000 people die each year from skin cancer.

How does sunlight damage your skin? The most common and best-known acute effect of overexposure to the sun is sunburn, or erythema. Its immediate effects can last for days and may include blistering and peeling.

When sunburn occurs, UV radiation kills most of the cells in the outer layer of the skin and damages deeper layers. Any change in the color of a person’s skin as a result of sun exposure is a sign of damage. Cancer can result when damage occurs to the DNA of genes that control the growth and division of skin cells. Sunlight also alters the texture of the skin and weakens its elasticity. This leads to premature wrinkling and sagging, as well as easy bruising.

Immune-System Damage

Studies have shown that when the skin absorbs too much UV radiation, the activities of certain parts of a person’s immune system are adversely affected. This may reduce the body’s ability to defend itself against some diseases. Even moderate sun exposure has been known to increase the risk of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, or viral infections. Many people notice that being in the sun causes them recurrent eruptions of cold sores, or herpes simplex. A World Health Organization (WHO) report explains that one category of ultraviolet light, known as UVB, “appears to reduce the effectiveness of the immune system—in the case of cold sores it can no longer keep the virus Herpes simplex under control which results in re-activation of the infection.”

Hence, when it comes to cancers, sunlight can deliver a devastating one-two punch. First, by directly provoking DNA damage and then by reducing the immune system’s natural ability to deal with such damage.

Wisely, we need to take precautions so that we do not overexpose ourselves to the sun. Our health, and indeed our very lives, may be at stake.

HOW

TO PROTECT YOURSELF

▪ Limit your exposure during the midday hours between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., when UV radiation is particularly intense.

▪ Try to stay in the shade.

▪ Cover your arms and legs with tightly woven, loose-fitting clothes.

▪ Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect your eyes, ears, face, and the back of your neck.

▪ Good-quality wraparound sunglasses, or sunglasses with side panels, that provide 99 to 100 percent UVA and UVB (categories of ultraviolet light) protection will greatly reduce the risk of eye damage.

▪ Use—and liberally reapply every two hours—a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 15.

▪ Since sunlamps, sun beds, and tanning parlors use UV radiation, which may damage the skin, WHO recommends avoiding them.

▪ Be careful to protect babies and young children, whose skin is particularly delicate.

▪ Never fall asleep in the sun.

▪ If you develop a mole, a freckle, or a spot that you are concerned about, see your doctor.