Sports and Recreation
The Plovdiv Sports Complex is the biggest in Eastern Europe. It consists of Plovdiv Stadium with several additional football fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, a rowing base with a 2 km-long channel, restaurants and cafés in a spacious park in the western part of the city, just south of the Maritsa river. There are also playgrounds for the children. It is popular among the citizens and guests of Plovdiv who use it for jogging, walking and relaxation. Plovdiv Stadium has 55,000 seats which makes it the largest football venue in Bulgaria.
Other stadiums include Hristo Botev Stadium (22,000 seats), Lokomotiv Stadium (11,000 seats), Maritsa Stadium (5,000 seats) and Todor Diev Stadium (7,000 seats). There are six indoor sports halls: Lokomotiv, Dunav, Stroitel, Chaika, Akademik, Total Sport. In 2006, Aqualand, a water park, was opened near the city centre. Several smaller water parks are in the city as well.
Football is the most popular sport in the city; Plovdiv has four professional teams. Botev Plovdiv was founded in 1912 and is named after one of the most ardent Bulgarian poets and revolutionaries, Hristo Botev. The city also has PFC Lokomotiv, founded in 1926. Both teams are a regular fixture in the top Bulgarian league. The rivalry between them is considered to be even more fierce than the one between Levski and CSKA of Sofia. There are two other football clubs in the city – Maritsa FC (founded in 1921) and Spartak Plovdiv (1947).
Plovdiv is host of the international boxing tournament "Strandzha" which takes place since 1949. In 2007, 96 boxers from 20 countries participated in the tournament. There is a horse racing club and a horse base near the city. Plovdiv has several volleyball and basketball teams.
Three of the city's seven hills are protected natural territories since 1995. Two of the first parks in Bulgaria are located in the city center – Tsar Simeon garden (also known as the City garden) and Dondukov garden. Some of the larger parks include the Botanical garden, Beliz Brezi, Ribnitsa and Lauta.
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