Hisarya, Bulgaria

Hisarya (Bulgarian: Хисаря [xiˈsarʲɐ], also known as Hisar, Hissar or Hissarya, formerly: Toplitsa) is a small town and a major spa resort in Plovdiv Province, central Bulgaria.

The town is located at the southern foothills of the Sredna Gora mountain range facing the Upper Thracian Plain.

During the Turkish rule, it further declined and, at some point, the once-prosperous city was just a couple of small houses in the midst of many Roman ruins, which peasants from the nearby villages used for a stone quarry, destroying most of them in the process.

After Bulgaria joined EU in 2007 various financing programs were used to recover the ancient ruins and renovate the park and street infrastructure, which recreates the town intensively and constantly and turns it again into a real gem of the Bulgarian spa, nature and historic heritage.

The century-old trees in the parks, which are the habitat of numerous bird species, the renovated new modern large spa hotel centres with sport, spa and recreation areas and the brand new cosy luxurious smaller hotels and affordable guesthouses turn Hisarya again into a preferred resort for relaxation, health recovery, illness treatment and loved place for business seminars and events for foreign and Bulgarian visitors.

The South gate of Hisarya's Late Roman fortifications, the largest preserved in the country