Town of Vidin
Town of Vidin (57 614 inhabitants, 20-25
m above sea level) is situated on the bank of the Danube River, on its big curve in
the most northwest corner of Bulgaria. It is 199 km to the
northwest from Sofia, 102 km northwest
from Montana, 52 km north from
Belogradchik, 56 km northwest from Lom and 30 km to the southeast from the
border town of Bregovo. It is one of the
oldest Bulgarian towns. It is a regional administrative centre.
History: The past of this town dates 23 centuries ago. As early as 3rd
century BC the Celts built a settlement here with the name Dounonia
(a high and fortified place). The Romans put into final shape the fortress with
the purpose to guard the border road along the Danube and named it Bononia. Bulgarians named the town Bdin,
and Byzantines - Vidini. In the meantime it was
ruined and built again many times. In 1003 Gavril Radomir,
the son of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil, stood the 8-months siege of the Byzantine
Emperor Vassilii II. The town reaches the
greatest flourishing at the end of 14th century, when it becomes a capital of
the Bdin Kingdom of Ivan Sratsimir
(1360). It has been a port on the river and an important trade centre of goods
not only for domestic needs, but also for transit trade with Vlashko (Romania), Madzharsko,
Dubrovnik, etc. A gospel from 1360 says that it
was written in “the great and crowded town of Bdin”. The rise of the
town ceased in 1396 when the Turks invade it. Since then Bulgaria started counting the
482 dark years of Ottoman rule, the 127195 endless days of persecution, terror,
human misery, assimilation and overt genocide.
In those centuries Vidin had been a great
fortress and an important administrative centre. In 17th century it was even
called “the main town of Bulgaria”. In 1794-1807 the
town became a centre of the absolute Turkish military leader Osman
Pazvantooglu, who declared himself an independent ruler of a considerable part
of Bulgarian north-western territories. During his rule construction on a large
scale developed in the town - new streets were made large, administrative buildings
rose, mosques and medreses (Islamic religious
schools) were built, etc. Some of them are preserved even till now. Vidin gradually turned into
an oriental town, especially after the settlement of some Turks after the
defeat near Vienna and the liberation of
Serbia. Expression of
desperate fight for national liberation was the famous Vidin Uprising of 1850
headed by Boyadzhi Stanko Voyvoda. Gradually with development of shipping along the Danube and with the
strengthening of the trade ties with Central Europe the standard of
living of its inhabitants rose. Through Vidin Port Austrian Shipping Co. bought
the production of the whole Western Bulgaria, incl. Macedonia. That went on till
1866 when neighbouring Lom was connected through a road with Sofia and replaced Vidin.
After the Liberation (1877) the town changed basically its ethnical population
in favour of the Bulgarians. During the Serbian-Bulgarian War after the Union of Eastern Rumelia with the Bulgarian
Principality (1885) Vidin was successfully defended
by captain Atanas Uzunov. The town is a birthplace of the eminent Bulgarian
social activist Naicho Tsanov
and of world famous artist post-impressionist artist Jul Pasken
(Iulius Pinkas, 1885-1930),
a brilliant representative of the Paris School of Art.
Landmarks: Baba Vida Fortress
The Vidin fortified
system, known also as the Turkish Kale, was built in 17th-18th century. Today
in a comparatively good outlook are preserved the fortified wall facing the Danube, the northern sector
of the fortress facing the town with its 4 gates - Stambolkapia,
Pazarkapia, Nechirekapia
and Florentinkapia. The system has the form of a
semi-circle seesaw line of 1800 m diameter, touching the Danube River. Seen from the land
the fortification consists of a moat and a ground rampart, whose corners are
formed by 8 stone 5-angle bastions. With the construction of the Kale and
including the Baba Vida Fortress as a main citadel in the common defence
system, in the second half of 18th century Vidin became a first-class
key military point along the Danube.
The Town Historical Museum (tel.: 094 25609) is
one of the richest and best-arranged museums in the country. It is housed in
two buildings - in the past Turkish Konak (police
office) from 18th century are arranged the Archaeology, Revival Period and
National-Liberation Movement sections, and the Ethnographic section is placed
in the Krastata Kazarma
(barracks building like a crest) - an original architectural monument from the
end of 18th century.
There is also the Mausoleum of the first Bulgarian Ekzarh
Antim I. The library of Osman Pazvantooglu (from about
1800, a monumental construction with original oriental architecture and
woodcarving).
The St. Pantaleymon Church from 1634 is the most
precious monument of Bulgarian architecture and art
in the town from the age of Turkish rule. The St Petka Church
from 1633. The St Dimitur Cathedral. The building
of the military club, in which the Town Art Gallery is housed, the teketo (Islamic monastery) “Saldahin
Baba, Hadzhi Angel’s House, the Synagogue and many
other interesting cultural and historic monuments.
There is a Theatre of Drama in Vidin, too.
Accommodation: Military Club Hotel (15, Baba Vida Str). Rovno Hotel. Bononia Hotel. Tourist House (3, Iskra Str, 300 m from the railway
station and 200 m from the port). There are 90 beds in 6 suites and in 2-bed,
3-bed and 4-bed rooms. The Danube Camping (7 km to the northeast of the town
and 3 km from the village of Zlaten Rog) with
fourteen 2-bed and two 6-bed pile bungalows along the banks of the Danube
River. 
There is a regular bus
transport from Vidin. Reservations can be
done at Bononia Tourist Association (see below).
Boats for sports and water tourism are offered against payment. There are a lot
of interesting restaurants and entertainment sites in Vidin, but the most
original one is in the former warehouse of the traders from Dubrovnik in the centre of the
town.
Tourist information: At the hotels, at the Tourist House and at Bononia Tourist Association (3, Edelvais
Str, tel.: 094 23828,
23206).
Transport: Two kinds of transport connect the town to the rest of the
world - road and railway. There is regular bus transport to Sofia, Montana, Lom, Vratsa, Belogradchik and
many other smaller settlements in the region. Telephone of
the bus station - 094 23179. The railway station (tel.: 094 23184) is
the final one on the railway line Mezdra - Vratsa - Vidin (Lom) and through the
railway station Mezdra it is connected with the
railway system of the country. There is also a new river station (since 1992
there is regular passengers transport from Bulgaria) and in the northern
part of the town operates a ferry port (tel.: 094 24979), through which an
extremely important ferry connection with Kalafat (Romania) is established. It
serves a considerable part of the tourist stream to and from Bulgaria. There is a town bus
transport in Vidin as well.
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