Stara Zagora is one of the oldest towns on the territory of present-day Bulgaria, famous equally for its rich history and fertile lands. The town lies in the geographical centre of the country. Its origin can be traced back to Thracian times (5-6nd century BC), when the town was known under the name of Beroe. Later on, after the Romans settled in (2nd century AC), the town was rebuilt and renamed into Augusta Trayana, after the then-emperor Trayan. With the arrival of Slavic tribes in those areas (6th century AC), the town appears in annals as Vereya, while under the rule of Byzantium (8th c.), it was renamed into Irinopolis.
Its present-day name comes from the Turkish “Eski Zagra” (‘old fortress’, after the remains of the Roman settlement), given to the town by the Ottoman troops after their invasion in Bulgarian lands at the end of the 14th century. Later, the Ottomans renamed the town into Eski Zaara – zaara meaning fertile land. The latter is nothing occasional as the town’s surrounding areas are famous for their tasty produce of vegetables (especially tomatoes) and fruit trees such as apricots and peaches.
Today, Stara Zagora is poetically nicknamed as the Town of Limes for the numerous lime trees planted along the main streets of the town and enchanting visitors with their marvelous scent in springtime. As the town was ruined to the ground during the Russian-Turkish Liberation war, after the Liberation in 1878 it was rebuilt in the fashion of the straight geometrical system. The town plan, designed by the Czech Loubor Bayer, strikes visitors with its perfectly straight and perpendicular streets and makes Stara Zagora unique in Bulgaria. Yet despite its through reconstruction, the town keeps the remains of the Augusta Trayana fortress and other sights of interest, such as Roman mosaics in 20 different places in the town. The Eski Mosk (Eski Dzamiya), built during the 15th century by the Ottoman authorities, is another place of tourist interest.
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