I Spent A Day in Europe's Largest Gypsy Slum

We visited Stolipinovo in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, described as Europe’s largest Romani slum, and explored its streets with local guides. We spoke with residents about their identity, culture, weddings, language, education, and daily life while observing the markets, horse-drawn carts, and difficult living conditions. We also learned about the community’s challenges, including poverty, trash, poor infrastructure, limited access to education, and drug-related problems, while seeing how stereotypes fail to capture the full reality of life there.