Next Stop: In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Roman Grandeur East of Italy

Jodi Hilton for The New York Times

Plovdiv's Roman Stadium.

ON a warm day in Plovdiv (Philippopolis in Roman times, or the City of Seven Hills to those who walk them today), I took respite in a park where a chunk of ancient colonnade served as a bench on which to eat greasy, cheesy banitza, the local pastry special.

Along for the journey was my friend Mia Agova, daughter of Assen Agov, the Bulgarian politician famous for his role in the democratic movement that helped free the country from Communism. Mia had come down from Sofia hoping to find the spot where her great-grandfather had been shot and killed in 1925 by the government operatives who considered him a fascist.

Hers is not the only Bulgarian family with history in Plovdiv.

One of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited cities, Plovdiv, on the banks of the Maritsa River, was at one time or another a Neolithic settlement, a Thracian hub and a Roman cultural and economic center complete with a glittering hillside theater. Liberated from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, Plovdiv became the capital of autonomous Eastern Rumelia, before being folded into modern-day Bulgaria. Today, Plovdiv is a city of more than 400,000 people, many of whom work in tourism and the arts.

Plovdiv's residents are proud of their history, which is good: they could scarcely avoid it if they tried. Walking from dinner to drinks, you may, as Mia and I did, pass under the remnants of a Roman aqueduct and amphitheater. If you're looking for a bit of ancient Roman grandeur east of Italy's tourist hordes, you would do well to come here.

Nearly all the historical attractions are tucked into the quiet back streets in and around Old Town, a tree-lined maze of cobblestone streets, antiques stores, Roman ruins, restaurants and museums that is closed in many places to cars; it's possible to spend two or three days exploring, as we did.

"In two and a half hours here, you can take a walk from the prehistoric times to now," said Antoinetta Perdikatseva, the curator at the Nedkovich House. On a sunny afternoon, she was sitting in its courtyard, under vines bearing heavy clusters of ripe green grapes.

Built in 1863 and partly restored in 1969, the house belonged to a famous local merchant, Nikola Nedkovich, who incorporated classic Bulgarian architectural touches — particularly the ornate carved ceilings, a different pattern in every room — and traditional European design. It's one of many handsome homes in Plovdiv that once belonged to a prominent family and have been converted into museums. Everything is on display, down to the family's silk nightgowns, dining-table sets and frescoes of the wealthy owner's travels.

Down the road, Hindlian House, the most opulent of Plovdiv's mini-museums, features the most luxurious marble bathroom anyone of that era (think of a small Turkish bath) had seen.

"You can excavate anywhere in this city, and the museum won't have a place to show everything," Ms. Perdikatseva said.

We certainly weren't her highest-profile visitors. Plovdiv is popular with royals passing through Bulgaria. Ms. Perdikatseva said she has guided Prince Charles, the Queens of Spain and Denmark and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whom she escorted to dinner at a continental Old Town restaurant called Philippopolis.

A 10-minute walk later, we were climbing the steep white marble stairs at the amphitheater, one of the best-preserved testaments to the splendor of ancient Rome. Dating from A.D. 98, it's the city's biggest tourist draw, with most visitors Bulgarians looking to explore their heritage.

The theater, with rows of shiny white benches arranged in the traditional U-shape, was discovered by chance, after a mudslide in the 1970s, and restored by the Bulgarian Conservation School in what many here consider its finest hour. It's perched on a hill overlooking the concrete sprawl of today's Plovdiv, with the green backdrop of the Rodopi Mountains.

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