It is situated on the banks of a broad river, and it is the centre of one of the most fertile districts in the whole country. However, Philippopolis seems fairly well satisfied with things as they are, though a certain amount of jealousy of Sofia is entertained by its inhabitants, and there is, in consequence, a tendency on the part of its inhabitants to take an unfavorable view of the action of the Sofiote Government There is a powerful Anti-Stambouloff party here, which has papers of its own, and which is expected to influence the elections in this part of Bulgaria.
Even in the Turkish days, Philippopolis was a prosperous city, with—for Bulgaria—an unusual proportion of well-to-do citizens. There are a considerable number of roomy, well-built dwellings in the older parts of the town, which clearly date from periods long anterior to the War of Liberation. There are also all the usual signs of recent material progress. The boulevard leading from the station to the town is lined on either side by handsome detached villas of the ordinary neo-Bulgarian order. In the streets old houses are being pulled down everywhere to make room for lofty, many-storied dwellings.
Mahommedan cemetery
The shops are the best, and contain the most varied assortments of goods, of any I have seen in Bulgaria. There is a fine public garden, laid out by the municipality on the site of an old Mahommedan cemetery in the heart of the town, the removal of which was one of the first corporate acts of the city after it had obtained its independence. The public schools, of which I have written elsewhere, are, as buildings, equal or superior to any I have ever seen in England. The Free Public Library is an institution of which any Western city might well be proud. It is located in the building which was designed for the National Assembly of Eastern Roumelia.
Ottoman in Bulgaria 