Vidin , city (1993 pop. 64,029), extreme NW Bulgaria, a port on the Danube River. The city is a market for the outlying farms and is known for its wine and ceramics. Founded in the 1st cent. AD as the Roman fortress of Bononia, Vidin became (14th cent.) the capital of the independent West Bulgarian kingdom under Ivan Sratsimir. It was captured by the Turks in 1396. Under Turkish rule it served (1794-1807) as the residence of the pasha Osman Pazvanto?lu. Vidin has several mosques, old churches, synagogues, a bazaar, and ruins of a medieval fortress.
Vidin is the westernmost important Bulgarian Danube port and is situated on one of the southernmost sections of the river. A ferryboat complex, linking Vidin with Calafat on the opposite side of the river, is located 2 km from the town. The complex is to be replaced by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge.Vidin is the 19th town by population in Bulgaria, but serious demographic problems have been experienced in the area since World War II.

There were also some Vlachs who lived in Vidin and to the north of it. The old Romanian name of the town is Diiu.

History
Vidin emerged at the place of an old Celtic 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 the Middle Ages Vidin used to be an important Bulgarian city, a bishop seat and capital of a large province. Between 971 and 976 the town was the center of Samuil’s possessions while his brothers ruled to the south. In 1003 Vidin was seized by Basil II after a eight month siege because of the betrayal of the local bishop. Its importance once again rose during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396) and its despots were influential figures in the Empire and were on several occasions chosen for Emperors. From the mid 13th century it was ruled by the Shishman family.

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 Bulgarian population and not the invading Ottoman Turks.

The Ottomans went on to conquer the despotates of Dobrudzha, Prilep and Velbazhd as well. Vidin’s independence did not last long. In 1396, Stratsimir contributed soldiers to assist the Slavic nations’ bid to overturn the Ottoman Empire. Following defeat at the hands of the Ottomans outside the city of Nicopolis, Vidin finally fell under the sphere of the Ottomans, led by Bayezid I, as a punishment for their role in the hostilities.

In the late years of Ottoman rule, Vidin was the centre of Turkish rebel Osman Pazvanto?lu’s breakaway state.

During the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), the town was besieged by a Serbian army. Although vastly outnumbered, the Bulgarians defeated the enemy who suffered a humiliating defeat.

Landmarks
Vidin boasts two well-preserved medieval 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 Pazvanto?lu, the late 18th century Turkish ruler of northwestern Bulgaria, the cruciform barracks of 1798, and a number of old Renaissance buildings.

12►