The town is located at the distance of 231 km east of Sofia, 90 km north-east of Plovdiv, 70 km south-west of Sliven, 48 km north of Dimitrovgrad and 35 km to the south-east of Kazanluk. Apart from being one of the most ancient towns in Bulgaria it is a big and important regional industrial and cultural centre.
History: Mostly due to its central position this town has a rich and most interesting history. In the 6th century BC it was a major Thracian settlement called Beroe. In the 2nd century the Romans built the town and call it Augusta Trayana (to the name of the emperor Trayan), which is soon to become one of the greatest and most famous towns in Roman Thrace. At the beginning of the 6th century the town was destroyed, later on to be populated by incoming Slavic tribes, who named it Vereya. For some time in the mid of 8th century is was conquered by the Byzantine Empire and renamed again, this time in honour of the Empress - Irinopolis. In th 9th century the town became an administrative centre of a vast district under the name of Borui. It was as late as the 12th - 14th century that the district was named Zagore wherefrom much later its contemporary name derived. Under the Turkish Rule it was known as Eski Hisar (old fortress) and after 1488 - as Eski Zaara ("zaara" meaning a fertile area).
During the Revival Stara Zagora is an important economic centre populated by Bulgarians mainly, extremely active in the spheres of the Bulgarian educational revival and national liberation movement. Among the teacher in the five-class primary school of 1859 are the esteemed enlighteners Neofit Rilski, Ivan Bogorov, P. R. Slaveikov and among the pupils one reads the names of Vassil Levski and Raina Popgeorgieva. A revolutionary committee was established in town and it was headed by Kolyo Ganchev, Georgi Apostolov and the Zhekov Brothers under the leadership of Stefan Stambolov and Georgi Ikonomov but due to treason, the planned uprising failed before it was to start. For the third time in its history Stara Zagora was put to the torch and turned to ashes during the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation.
After the Liberation the town was built yet once again in the fashion of straight geometrical system - straight streets crossing in perpendicular. The town plan was worked out by the Czheck urbaniser Loubor Bayer. The principles laid therein are further observed in the construction works, which makes the town unique in Bulgaria.
Stara Zagora is the birthplace of the poets Kiril Hristov, Nikolai Liliev, Vesselin Hanche; of the singer Hristina Morphova; of the painters Anton and Georgi Mitovi, Atanas Mihov, Mario Zhekov. It is commonly known as the "town of lime-trees and poets".
Landmarks: The Bereketska Mogila (Hill) (west of Kolyo Ganchev Quarter) is the biggest prehistoric settlement excavated in Bulgaria. It is 17 meters high, its diametrical dimensions at the base are over 250 meters. Close to the District Hospital scientists have found the biggest dwelling mounds in Bulgaria. Therein were the remains of two ancient dwellings dated back to the neolith - the middle of the 6th millennium BC and they are the best preserved such finds in Europe to date. The antique forum Augusta Trayana is one of the most monumental facilities built in the Roman city of Augusta Trayana.
Late antiquity municipal building with mosaics (4th - 6th century) can be seen in the cash hall of the Central Post Office, where archaeologists have excavated a big building of the south-eastern end of Augusta Trayana in the immediate vicinity of the city walls. The floor of this official building is covered with a colourful mosaic, which employs allegorical and zoological symbols to represent and illustrate the seasons of the year and the endless spiral of life.
The Defenders of Stara Zagora 1877 Memorial Complex is a 50 meter high monument erected in 1977 on the historical Chadar Hill to commemorate 100 years from fierce battle for the liberation of the country during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 when the Bulgarian volunteers, waving the national colour - the sacred Samara Flag - went to their maiden battle. It stands proud in the Bulgarsko Opulchenie Park on the outskirts of town.
The Art Gallery hosts more than 4000 works of art from all genres. The golden fund of the gallery keeps a rich collection of medieval Bulgarian icons and prints as well as works from Georgi Danchov, Stansilav Dospevski, the Mitov Brothers, Ivan Penkov, Tseno Todorov, Vladimir Dimitrov - the Master, David Perez, Dechko Uzunov, etc.
The Hilendar Convent is a reconstruction of the original convent with the Hilendar Monastery at Sveta Gora, which actually functioned in the town before being finally burned down when the town was put on fire for the last time. In those days Levski lived there for three years. A central place has the exhibition "Levski in Stara Zagora".
The House-Museum "Town Life in the 19th century" (close to the centre of the town) is located in Hadzhiangelov's House, which was built in 1883 by a master-builder from Debur and is a typical representative of the later type of symmetrical architecture with no portico. Geo Milev House Museum is a rich, modern and well arranged museum to visit.
Transport: Being an important transport junction the town maintains contacts with the other parts of the country by road and rail. Regular bus lines to the towns (Plovdiv, Kazanluk, Sliven, Chirpan, Nova Zagora, Dimitrovgrad, and Haskovo) and the villages in the region. The major motorway Sofia - Plovdiv - Bourgas and the road from Rousse to Kurdzhali cross the town. The bus station and the railway station are nearby each other in the southern part of the town. Railway routes to Plovdiv and Sofia, to Bourgas and Toulovo start from the town, from where one can join Sofia - Karlovo - Bourgas railway line.
Surrounding areas: Stara Zagora Mineral Baths is a balneological resort, 15 km north-west of the town with an open mineral pool and numerous opportunities for recuperation and rest, boarding and entertainment. In the immediate vicinity a Roman bath from the 2nd century (161_163) was found, which the citizens of ancient Augusta Trayana used. In the area of Mechi Kladenets" (Bear's Well) archaeologists have discovered old copper mines (from the copper-bronze age - the 4th millennium BC), which are one of the oldest and biggest of their kind in Europe.
The resort is a departure point for a whole-day hiking tour along a marked track to Kavakliika Chalet in the Surnena Sredna Gora Mountain. The baths are reached by regular town bus line. The resort village of Yagoda is located 20 kilometres north of Stara Zagora - it has an open mineral pool. One can get to it by passing through the 14-kilometre long historical Zmeevski Pass, which by the famous village of Zmeevo known for its excellent zmeevski white pelin wine. All buses between Stara Zagora and Kazanluk can be taken, as well as the train for Toulovo.
