Plovdiv Period of National Revival, a number of notable icon-painters (called in Bulgarian "zografi", "зографи") from all regions of the country worked in Plovdiv such as Dimitar Zograf, his son Zafir Zograf, Zahari Zograf, Georgi Danchov, and others. After the Liberation, the Bulgarian painter of Czech origin Ivan Mrkvička came to work in the city. The Painters' Society was established there by artists from southern Bulgaria in 1912 whose members included painters Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, Tsanko Lavrenov and Sirak Skitnik. Today the city has more than 40 art galleries with most of them being privately owned. The Art Gallery of Plovdiv was
Plovdiv the Slavic name began to appear as "Papaldiv/n Plo(v)div, Pladiv, Pladin, Plapdiv, Plovdin", which evolved from a Thracian variant "Pulpudeva". As a result, the name has lost any meaning. In British English the Bulgarian variant "Plòvdiv" has become prevalent after World War I. The Crusaders mentioned the city as "Prineople", "Sinople" and "Phinepople". The Ottomans called the city "Filibe", a corruption of "Philip", in a document from 1448. Plovdiv is located on the banks of the Maritsa river, southeast of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The city is in the southern part of the "Plain of Plovdiv", an alluvial plain that