Danubian Diaries – Vidin

Georgie Georgiev

Bulgaria is a small country and I have spent all my life here, I have traveled all over the country and still, I have the feeling that I haven’t seen it all. Not long ago northwestern Bulgaria was just a bare geographic idea for me. But so it happened that I found myself in Vidin. The occasion was the first sod of the Danube Bridge II.

I reached the town by car along the way from Sofia, not the way I have always wanted it to be – by boat along the Danube River from Vienna for example. But I know that I have time enough for that. I was forced to bear the whole ceremony and the pompous speeches of the official guests, and all this combined with the burning sun and heat around noon, which completely exhausted me. I couldn’t wait the end of the event, together with the other colleagues, photographers and cameramen, and only the though that I will come back here again in the far 2010, when the bridge will be finally constructed and will connect the dreams of the thousands of residents of the region with their dreams for a better future, relived me. This will happen after three years, and as I was already in Vidin, I couldn’t wait for the end of the ceremony to make my way and examine the town. I was helped with this initiative by my colleague from the www.Visitbulgaria.NET team, who was born and raised in Vidin.

Most tourism brochures describe Vidin as a town with rich history and unique cultural monuments, which in fact could be said for almost every town in Bulgaria. For me Vidin could be generally described with three things: “Baba Vida Fortress”, the walking alley nearby the Danube River and the crystal blue Danube. I don’t know how the town looks during all four seasons, but when I was there, by the end of the spring, the waters of the Danube River were really sapphire. I will also never forget the delicious fish from the Danube River that was prepared by my colleague’s mom.

As I already said, I was very impressed by the “Baba Vida fortress”. This is the only, fully preserved medieval castle in Bulgaria, and this makes it unique, because the history and destiny of Bulgaria were merciless to all medieval buildings. For the people who are acquainted with history and architecture, the monument is a fortress with a square shape, with angles orientated towards the four world directions, and the walls are 70 metres long with inner and outer layers and a protective ditch. For me Baba Vida is a real fortress, like those I have only seen in the movies with knights and glorious heroes. I imagine how the fortification looked like, when seen from the other side of the river. Probably many nomadic hordes were stopped, respected by its look.
However, there are no nomadic hordes any more; soon there will be a bridge, symbol of the European friendship, contrasting the beautiful monument Baba Vida, which has preserved the atmosphere of past heroic times. If I was a child, I would surely spend a lot of time there, imagining that I am a mighty ruler. And it’s easy to imagine, when you look at the reproduced scenes from the past in the fortress. Dressed in armor guards are protecting the entrance to the jail, a scary executioner prepares his torture devices, and the white bones of a doomed prisoner are shining in the dark cell. Of course all these are plastic mannequins, whish interpret the epoch very realistically.

We make a downhill along the alley from the fortress, leading to the centre of the town – the other majour sightseeing, at least in my point of view. Right in front of Baba Vida is the beach, where, I must admit, I noticed two very attractive young ladies trying to catch the early summer sun beams. Another reason for me to quickly fall in love with Vidin. This is where the park alley starts, which reminds me of the panoramic alleys in the seaside resorts. The benches are ideally placed, to face the river, where people of all ages sit, boats and barges, floatimg in the calm waters of the majestic Danube river, the gulls and other water birds, who dive in the river, some do it quietly, others with a splash, the fishermen, who looked like an inevitable part of the scenery and the absolute harmony. This is what I saw and felt during my first visit in Vidin, and the setting sun put additional charm to the general atmosphere.

Of course you should not think of Vidin as a clam town, where people with boiling blood will be bored. On the contrary – further down in the same park the clubs are working on maximum and… decibels, and some boats transformed in restaurants are ideal opportunity for an intimate romantic dinner. As I later learned the town also offers several night clubs, which I couldn’t explore, to be able to share impressions.

Vidin also offers numerous sightseeing and cultural monuments, churches, cathedral church and museums. The unique mosque of Osman Pazvantogly is also here. The temple was built in honour of the mother of the Ottoman ruler, who was Bulgarian. That is why he placed a heart on the top of its minaret, instead of a half- moon sign. Others older or newer monuments in Vidin are connected with legends for the town on the Danube River. The sculptures of the sisters Vida, Gamza and Kula reminded the legend, told about the construction of the fortress. Other legens tell the story of Graf Drakula, who spend part of his life here and many, many other old stories.

But it is better to hear these legends right there on spot. Probably the river will tell it the best way, while you take a sip from the aromatic, local wine on the deck of some of the boats – restaurants, listening to the whisper of the Danube River.

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