Plovdiv 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 – city garden", where the very first work of the Italian sculptor Arnoldo Zocchi could be seen, and "Dondukov garden – old city garden". Some of the larger parks include the "Botanical garden", "Beli Brezi", "Ribnitsa", and "Lauta". Plovdiv is twinned with the following cities: The asteroid (minor planet) is named after the city.
Trolleybuses in Plovdiv the operator is a private company, the city lost the opportunity to acquire 65 mln lv EU funding for purchasing approximately 100 brand-new trolleybuses.The system was officially closed on 1 October 2012 although some trolleybuses continued operation for a few more weeks.Currently there is no trolleybus movement and the municipality has issued an order for dismantling the overhead network. The sole Plovdiv trolleybus line was: , the Plovdiv trolleybus fleet had 47 trolleybuses: Trolleybuses in Plovdiv The Plovdiv trolleybus system () was a part of the public transport network of the city and municipality of Plovdiv, the second most populous