History of Plovdiv plant for electrical apparata, tobacco plant, canning factory, motor-truck factory and many others. On 6 April 1956 the first trolleybus line was opened and in the 50s the emblematic Trimontsium Hotel was constructed. In the 60s and 70s there was construction boom and many of the modern neighborhoods took shape. In the 70s and 80s many antique remains were excavated and the Old Town was fully restored. In 1990 the Sports complex "Plovdiv" was finished. It included the largest stadium and rowing canal in the country. In that period Plovdiv became the birthplace of Bulgaria's movement for democratic reform, which
Plovdiv European mosque outside Moorish Spain. The Sephardic Plovdiv Synagogue is at Tsar Kaloyan Street 13 in the remnants of a small courtyard in what was once a large Jewish quarter. Dating to the 19th century, it is one of the best-preserved examples of the so-called "Ottoman-style" synagogues in the Balkans. According to author Ruth E. Gruber, the interior of the Plovdiv Synagogue is a "hidden treasure…a glorious, if run-down, burst of color." An exquisite Venetian glass chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling, which has a richly painted dome. All surfaces are covered in elaborate, Moorish-style, geometric designs in