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STARA ZAGORA means "Old Town Behind the Mountain", an apt name for this settlement on the far flanks of the eastern Sredna Gora, with a history of occupation stretching back some 7000 years. Neolithic farmers were the first on the scene, while it was the Thracians, in the fifth century BC, who established the first significant town, which they called Beroe. Reconstructed and refounded by the Romans as Augusta Traiana in the second century AD, it stood at the crossroads of two important trade routes, and commanded a fertile area still noted for its wheat and fruit orchards. This attractive location had its downside, though; the town was repeatedly attacked, destroyed and rebuilt by a succession of native and foreign conquerors throughout the Middle Ages, each time acquiring a new name. Under Ottoman rule, Stara Zagora was one of the centres of the Bulgarian renaissance, and its school attracted such pupils as Levski, Botev and Raina Knyaginya. Burned down by the Turks in 1877 for welcoming the Russian army of General Gurko, and subsequently rebuilt on a strict grid-plan, today the city has an urbane, modern appearance, centring on leafy boulevards and lively cafes.
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