Plovdiv is one of the oldest centers of European civilization, older than Rome and Athens, and a contemporary of Troy and Mycenae. In the Thracian times, the city was known as Evmolpia, but in 342 BC, Philip of Macedonia conquered Thrace, and Evmolpia was renamed Philippopolis in his honor. After the Roman invasion, Thrace became a Roman province, with Philippopolis as its most important city. Philippopolis was renamed Trimontium – the city of the three hills. After the Ottoman Invasion of the Balkan Peninsula in the mid-14th century, it was almost destroyed and renamed Fillbe. The first massive migration of Slavs to the area occurred in the early 7th century.…