FIRST STEPS IN URBAN PLANNING OF BULGARIAN CITIES WITH PARTICIPATION OF CZECH ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS AT THE TURN OF 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

This article focuses on beginnings of the urban planning and first organized planning activities of Bulgarian cities at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries when many Czech engineers and architects participated in significantly. A common feature of all Bulgarian cities was irregular structure and build-up area. The main task of the Czech engineers was to cope with this situation and to design modern cities. In general, the original structure did not make planning easy and unambiguous. Planning of the cities destroyed in the Russian-Turkish war in 1877-78 was easier. A possibility to apply a new city structure freely existed in Stara Zagora and partially in Nova Zagora. A usual principle was straightening of the streets where the engineers used original street network and the new modern streets were built according to it, e.g. the centre of Kystendil and the old part of Nova Zagora. These principles were used also in some central parts of Sofia and Plovdiv. The city of Sofia itself is a distinctive example. Although the original structure was preserved during the war and in the first steps the principle of straightening of the streets in the centre was applied, the other parts of Sofia were designed with a new structure and the old city disappeared. Plovdiv is in contrary to Sofia and its original structure was preserved as an old city and the new one was joined to it in neighbourhoods