Vidin The town of Vidin is established in the 3rd century BC. Through the time it had its own peculiarity, significance and culture. In facts Vidin is delicate mixture of different periods reach of historical sights and has own specific atmosphere. This small and beautiful pace is located on the coast of Danube River in the Northwestern part of Bulgaria. It is about 190 km northwest from Sofia. Vidin is a border town with Romania - to the North and Serbia to the west. Vidin is the western most important Bulgarian Danube port and is located on one of the southern most sections of the river. A ferryboat complex, connect Vidin with Calafat on the opposite side of the river, is based 2 km away. The complex is to be replaced by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge. Vidin is the 19th town by population in Bulgaria (at the moment is approximately 127,000 dwellers - 1.6% of the Bulgarian population), but serious demographic problems have been experienced in the area since World War II. Vidin emerged at the place of an old Thracian settlement known as Dunonia, where a Roman fortified town called Bononia was later constructed. The town grew into one of the important centres of the province of Upper Moesia, encompassing the territory of modern northwestern Bulgaria and eastern Serbia. Roman rule lasted until 46 AD. When Slavs settled in the area, they called the town Badin or Bdin, where the modern name comes from. Vidin's main landmark, the Baba Vida fortress, was built in the period from the 10th to the 14th century. In 1356, Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander isolated Vidin from the Bulgarian monarchy and appointed his son Ivan Stratsimir (1356-1396) as absolute ruler of Vidin's new city-state. In 1365, the Despotate of Vidin was occupied by Magyar crusaders. Under Hungarian rule, the city became known as Bodony, but the occupation was short-lived. In 1369, a united Slavic Bulgarian empire drove out the Hungarian military, but in 1393 the whole of Bulgaria, along with the rest of the surrounding region, fell to the Ottoman Empire. This brought an end to Bulgaria's medieval state empire. Vidin was now the only region controlled by the indigenous Slavic population and not the invading Ottoman Turks. Vidin boasts two well-preserved mediaeval fortresses, Baba Vida and Kaleto, as well as many old Orthodox churches such as St Pantaleimon, St Petka (both 17th century), and St Greatmartyr Demetrius (19th century), a Jewish synagogue (1894), a mosque and a library of Osman PazvantoÄŸlu, the late 18th century Turkish ruler of northwestern Bulgaria, the cruciform barracks of 1798, and a number of old Renaissance buildings. The Cross-Shaped Barracks - with an ethnographic exposition exhibited there today, the Turkish post office, the Art gallery, the Turkish police-office, the Jewish synagogue, the Drama Theatre, the "St. Dimitar" cathedral, etc. also belong to the fund of cultural and historical heritage. These are all monuments of international, national and local importance, located in beautiful buildings from past times. Vidin is one of those Bulgarian towns where every other building bears traces of a fascinating historical past. Outside the town there is a great number of tourist sites to choose from too. One of them is Magurata Cave, a genuine nature phenomenon. Its formation is believed to have begun about 15 million years ago. It is one of the biggest and most visited caves in Bulgaria. Rock-drawings, depicting cult and hunting scenes, dancing male and female figures, animals, stars and plants, dated to 13-9 c. B.C. can be viewed in Magurata cave. The Belogradchik Rocks, another nature phenomenon, is only 40 km to the south of Vidin. Over the length of 200 million years, natural elements- rain, wind and sunshine- have, between them, fashioned amazing rock formations, huge sculptures of mythical beings, humans, animals and birds. The town is famous for its riverfront park, a peculiar mixture of styles - a landscape bearing the character of the English parks, in harmony with the Baroque shapes of bushes and vegetation, which gives it qualities of a new style - typically Bulgarian. The riverfront park is built along the river. It features excellent places for respite and repose. Today Vidin is a middle-size Bulgarian town. Has many interesting places, shops, restaurants, etc. The town has a lot to offer from amusement and tourism point of view. The Danube port of Vidin is a regular stop for the Danube Cruise international ships with tourists from all Danube countries, and all over the world. The food-processing, producing of constructing materials and mechanical manufacturing are the main economic activities here and in the region. The Vidin province is 3,034km2 big (2,8% of the Bulgarian total area). The architecture of Vidin is a complex of Roman, Medieval, Bulgarian, Turkish, Post Liberation and new period of Vidin's development. |