Saborna Street starts from the garden of Dzhumaya Square and reaches Hisar Kapiya Square, directly opposite the Tourist Center in the Old Town. It was named after the Congregational Church, today the Cathedral Church of the Holy Virgin, from which the architectural and historical reserve begins. It is believed that there was a Christian church in its place as early as the 9th or 10th century. The chronicler Nicetas Choniates also mentions the Church of the Holy Virgin in Philippopolis: it was restored in 1189 under Metropolitan Constantine Pantechni, it was looted by the crusaders of the Third Crusade, and subsequently rebuilt.
In 1578, the chronicler Stefan Gerlach also mentioned the temple under the name Presvetaia. An inscription, which has disappeared today, indicated that the church was renovated and painted in 1698, under Metropolitan Neophytos, with the funds of the rhetorician Andronikos. Until 1825, the teachers of the Main Greek School in Plovdiv were supported by the income of the church.
By 1844, the old church was demolished and Bratsigovo craftsmen erected a new, larger church made completely of stone in its place. This is evidenced by a marble slab with a Bulgarian inscription, built over the northern church door: "began construction on 25 April 1844". The first ktitors were the Begliks Valko and Stoyan Teodorovich Chalakovi from Koprivshtitsa. Construction was probably completed eight years later. The imposing bell tower was built in 1881 with a project by Josef Schnitter.
The Church of the Holy Virgin is historically connected with the ecclesiastical-national struggle, and its frescoes and iconostasis came from the hands of great artists such as Stanislav Dospevski, Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, Dimitar Gyuzhenov, etc.
Directly opposite the church is the house where Konstantin Stoilov was born - a prominent politician and three-time prime minister of Bulgaria, and next to it is the home of Hadji Salcho. His house was provided for the residence of the Provisional Russian Government headed by the Imperial Commissioner Knyaz Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov in 1878. It is currently a private art gallery.
In this part, there are two more galleries that are worth visiting - Dzhurkovi and Philippopolis. The first is located at the very foot of the old town, right before Stoilov's house. It is a beautifully restored house on three floors with a permanent exhibition of contemporary artists and old masters born in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The building was built at the beginning of the last century and is an architectural monument of ensemble importance.
Philippopolis Art Gallery and Museum is located in an old, Revival house, declared an architectural monument of culture in the city of Plovdiv. The first floor is used for an exhibition hall, where famous contemporary Bulgarian artists present their works in individual exhibitions. Art objects in ceramics, wood and bronze are also available. In the museum part on the second floor, paintings by some of the most famous Bulgarian artists from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century are exhibited.
Right after Philippopolis is one of the places with views of Old Plovdiv. It is shaped like a garden and you can relax for a few minutes with a panorama of the northern part of the city. Next is the small Academy of Music, Dance and Visual Arts building with the monument - a favorite location for photos and selfies, and opposite - several antique shops.
Straight ahead rises the imposing building of the City Art Gallery, which was recently renovated. The authentic appearance of the building has been preserved, and its reconstruction has turned it into one of the most impressive buildings under the hills.
It was completed at the end of 1881 with a project by Josef Schnitter and at the beginning it was intended for the District Girls' High School with the headmistress Franziska Schourek. The school was the successor of the Diocesan Evangelical School for Girls in Plovdiv since 1862, and among the donors for the new building were prominent residents of the city such as Metropolitan Panaret, Yoakim Gruev, Todor Kesyakov, Hristo G. Danov, Kostaki Peev, and others.
Today it is home to the permanent exhibition of the City Art Gallery in Plovdiv, officially opened in 1952.
Further along the street there are again quite a few shops for souvenirs and antique goods, and then the building that houses the only pharmaceutical exposition in Bulgaria - Hippocrates. It was opened to the public in 1981, but from 1872 to 1947, the building actually housed a pharmacy, which was among the most modernly equipped of its time. The house itself was built in the late 1860s by Dr. Giavalo. Its next master was Dr. Sotir Antoniadi, who was one of the first medical graduates before the Liberation.
The next building is the house of Dr. Stoyan Chomakov, which in 1984 became a permanent exhibition of the famous Plovdiv artist Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. A monument of the artist has been erected in the courtyard in front of the main facade of the house. Before that, it was provided as a summer residence for Knyaz Ferdinand.
Our walk along Saborna Street continues with the Icon Exhibition of the City Art Gallery, opened in 1975, and ends with the Church of Saints Constantine and Elena. The church itself is one of the oldest in the city under the hills. The first sanctuary in this place was created in the 4th century, and legend tells that in the same place in the distant year 304, the martyrs Severian and Memenos were beheaded for professing the Christian faith. Another 38 people are believed to have died there for preaching Christianity.
The construction of the new church is due to the two notable men, Valko Chalakov and Todor Moravenov. Its major restoration began in 1832, and it has reached the present day in this form, and in 1836 it even acquired a bell tower. The last major renovation was done in 2007 and it only maintains the authentic appearance of the building.
