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39-499: Rabisha village is located 45 kilometers from Vidin and 20 km from Belogradchik . It is also located on Archar river . Its population is about 300 people. The nearest train station is in the town of Dimovo, 11.4 kilometers from Rabisha. The village is near the Rabisha lake and the 15 million years old Magura cave , which is the largest cave in Bulgaria . There are unique drawings in

78-438: A 3,000-strong cavalry and remained there until after 1325. These Tatar nobles were fleeing from the persecution of the new khan , Toqta , who had defeated and murdered Nogai in 1299–1300. Contrary to Andreev's opinion, Fine believes that the death of Nogai increased Serbia's influence over Vidin. Shishman died in the early 14th century but before 1308 or 1313. He was succeeded as ruler of Vidin by his son Michael, who in 1323

117-522: A military facility in front of the Vidin citadel, where they placed more than 40 cannons. During the construction, a large number of Muslim houses and shops were destroyed. Of 3,000 buildings, two hammams , many mosques, shops and coffee shops only 200-300 buildings and several shops survived. In the late years of Ottoman rule , Vidin was the centre of Ottoman rebel Osman Pazvantoğlu 's breakaway state. In 1853, The Times of London reported that Widdin, as it

156-453: A period of civil war with Stefan Dečanski , Stefan Konstantin and Stefan Vladislav II fighting for power. Michael Shishman took advantage of this situation, set free from Serbian overlordship, and returned to the Bulgarian sphere and in 1323 was chosen to be the Bulgarian emperor ( tsar ). After the death of Michael Shishman in the disastrous battle of Velbazhd in 1330, Vidin passed under

195-550: A power of 500 kW. For transmission on 576 kHz a 259-metre-tall (850 ft) guyed mast equipped with a cage antenna at its lower part is used. A powerful FM transmitter on 88.2 MHz provides good coverage for Hristo Botev radio. Also, Horizont and Radio Vidin are broadcast on 102.3 and 103.9 MHz with similar coverage to Hristo Botev Vidin Heights on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica

234-509: A regional airport ( Vidin Airport , ICAO code LBVD ) a few kilometres to the north-west; as of 2000 , there is no scheduled passenger service, and the buildings are in a state of disrepair. There are, however, state development plans to rebuild and restore the activity of Vidin airport. Close to the town lies a powerful medium wave broadcasting station (since 1973) whose signals can be easily received throughout Europe. It works on 576 khz with

273-647: A thunderbolt and likely a bipennis. This piece, dating from the late 2nd or early 3rd century, aligns with similar depictions of the deity found in other regions, suggesting a common iconographic theme. In Vidin is a border-station to neighbouring Romania via the Danube river. It was operated by ferryboats only until 14 June 2013 when the Vidin–Calafat Bridge opened. Crossing by ferry was possible only every 1 ⁄ 2 hour with just five trucks per ferry. Ticket prices were €50 per truck and €12 per car. The city has

312-731: Is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria . It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia , and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province , as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since 870). An industrial, agricultural, and trade centre, Vidin has a fertile hinterland renowned for its wines . The name is archaically spelled as Widdin in English. Its older form Dunonia meant "fortified hill" in Celtic with

351-532: Is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). Vidin maintains 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 Dimitar ( Demetrius of Thessaloniki ) (19th century), the Vidin Synagogue (1894), the Osman Pazvantoğlu Mosque and library , the late 18th-century Turkish ruler of north-western Bulgaria,

390-524: Is an irregular pentagon ; it is strongly bastioned , possesses a fortified castle, with two redoubts in the islands, and its defences are completed by an extensive marsh . In 1859 the English traveler Samuel Baker happened to visit Vidin and spotted the 14-year old Florence Barbara Maria von Sass from Transylvania (then in Hungary now in Romania) being sold into slavery, by some accounts destined to be owned by

429-529: Is named after Vidin. Vidin is twinned with: Partner towns of Vidin: The football team of the town ( FC Bdin ) was established in 1923 . Shishman of Vidin Shishman ( Bulgarian : Шишман ; fl. 1270s/1280s — before 1308/1313) was a Bulgarian nobleman ( boyar ) who ruled a semi-independent realm based out of the Danubian fortress of Vidin in the late 13th and early 14th century. Shishman, who

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468-500: The Asen dynasty . In contemporary sources, Shishman is variously described as a prince ( knyaz ), king or even emperor ( tsar ) of Bulgaria, though his only official title was that of " despot ". According to historian John V. A. Fine, Shishman may have established his authority over the Vidin region as early as the 1270s, after the death of the previous lord of that area, Jacob Svetoslav . He

507-561: The Krastata Kazarma of 1798, and a number of old Renaissance buildings. Also remarkable is the theatre building which was the first Bulgarian theatre in "European model" and was built in 1891. The Vidin Synagogue built in 1894 was in 2021 a shell of its former self; plans are made to turn it into an interfaith cultural center; the Jews of Vidin number about a dozen. Another tourist attraction in

546-576: The Pasha of Vidin. Baker bribed her guards and took her with him, she eventually became Florence Baker , his wife and partner in the exploration of Africa . Some Muslims from Belgrade, Kladovo, and Smederevo settled in Vidin due to their expulsion from Serbia in 1862 . After the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 Vidin was included in the reestablished Bulgarian state, the Principality of Bulgaria . The city

585-555: The dun element found frequently in Celtic place names. It is known as Diiu in Romanian . Vidin is the westernmost important Bulgarian Danube port and is situated on one of the southernmost sections of the river. The New Europe Bridge , completed in 2013, connects Vidin to the Romanian town of Calafat on the opposite bank of the Danube. Previously, a ferry located 2 km (1 mi) from

624-642: The Ottomans invaded and turned Vidin into a sandjak. The city fell under Austrian occupation in October 1689 during the Great Turkish War . Both Austrians and the Ottomans had heavy casualties during the siege. The occupation lasted nine months and ended in August 1690. Shortly after Vidin's capture, in 19 October 1689 2.500 Muslim men and 1,000 Muslim women from Vidin were deported to Nikopol . The Austrians also built

663-460: The Vidin area is the town of Belogradchik , famous for its unique and impressive rock formations, the Belogradchik Rocks and the medieval Belogradchik Fortress and also the nearby Magura Cave with its beautiful prehistoric cave paintings. A fragmented marble structure found near Vidin shows a bearded man in a Phrygian cap and Roman armor , identified as Jupiter Dolichenus , holding

702-669: The area, they called the town Badin or Bdin , where the modern name comes from. Similarly, Anna Komnene refers to it as Vidynē (Βιδύνη) in the Alexiad . 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 of the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018). Between 971 and 976

741-572: The brothers forces, and accepted Serbian suzerainty. Encouraged by Nogai, in 1292 Shishman launched a major campaign against Milutin, his Serbian neighbour to the west. Thanks to the support of Tatar mercenaries, Shishman's forces raided deeply into Serbian territory and reached Hvosno (in Kosovo ). After attempting to conquer the fortress of Ždrelo to no avail and burning the Žiča monastery, Shishman's troops returned to Vidin without any territorial gains. Milutin's response to Shishman's act of aggression

780-612: The cave from primeval people. The drawings are about 5,000 years old. The Rabisha lake is the biggest Bulgarian non-salt lake. There are a lot of fish in it. There are two protected oak trees near Rabisha. They are over 300 years old, which makes them two of the oldest trees in Vidin region. The trees are tall, about 17 meters. Near the Magura cave is located Magura Winery which produces high quality wine and champagne. Vidin Vidin ( Bulgarian : Видин , pronounced [ˈvidin] )

819-452: The daughter of Serbian veliki župan Dragoš . The future marriage of Shishman's son and future Bulgarian emperor Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330) to Milutin's daughter Ana-Neda was also arranged at the time with the intention of further sealing the union. It is quite apparent that Shishman's unlikely reinstallment in Vidin and alliance with Serbia were dictated by Nogai, as at the same time Serbia also came under Tatar dependence. Milutin

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858-512: The largest autonomous province of Bulgaria at the time. Bulgarian historian Yordan Andreev estimates the lands ruled by Shishman to have extended from the Iron Gates gorge of the Danube in the west to the towns of Lom and Vratsa in the east. Shishman also controlled territories north of the Danube, in western Wallachia ( Oltenia ), as chroniclers describe the Danube River as running through

897-832: The mid 13th century it was ruled by the Shishman dynasty . By early 1290s the Kingdom of Serbia expanded towards the vicinity of Vidin, after defeating the Bulgarian rulers of the region of Braničevo, Darman and Kudelin . Threatened by Serbian expansion, the Bulgarian despot Shishman of Vidin failed to repel the Serb forces, and accepted Serbian suzerainty, although in practice, Shishman continued to be independent from Serbian influence and dealt mainly with Bulgaria. Formal Serbian suzerainty lasted until Serbian king Stefan Milutin ´s death, in 1321. As Milutin left no testament, after his death, in Serbia occurred

936-619: The middle of his lands. In 1285, increasing Tatar pressure from the northeast had forced the Second Bulgarian Empire to come under the political dependence of Nogai Khan , the ruler of the Golden Horde . At the time Shishman's realm centred at Vidin was largely independent from the Bulgarian tsars in Tarnovo , though he retained a degree of loyalty to Bulgaria and maintained friendly relations with Serbia . However, in 1291 Shishman too

975-449: The rule of his brother Belaur , who led un unsuccessful rebellion against the new emperor Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (r. 1331–1371) until his defeat in 1336. In 1356 Ivan Alexander appointed his son Ivan Stratsimir (r. 1356–1396) as a ruler of Vidin, who governed the city and the surrounding region, the Tsardom of Vidin , as a de facto independent monarch. In 1365, the Tsardom of Vidin

1014-465: The town had a population of 48,071 inhabitants and 35,784 inhabitants as of 2021. According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: Total: 48,071 Vidin has a humid subtropical climate close to a temperate continental climate, from which it is shifting further and further away due to global warming . In the winter months, inversions are very common . The average annual temperature

1053-517: The town was in use for that purpose. Vidin emerged at the place of an old Celtic settlement known as Dunonia . The Romans built a fort here (called Bononia ) on the Danubian Limes frontier system along the Danube and around which a Roman town developed. The town grew into one of the important centres of the province of Upper Moesia , encompassing the territory of modern north-western Bulgaria and eastern Serbia . When Slavs settled in

1092-468: The town was the center of future Bulgarian emperor Samuil 's possessions while his brothers ruled to the south. In 1003 Vidin was seized by Basil II after an eight-month siege because of the betrayal of the local bishop. Its importance once again rose during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1422) and its despots were influential figures in the Empire and were on several occasions chosen for emperors. From

1131-534: Was a Cuman , considered to have been a descendant of the wave of Cumans that settled in Bulgaria after 1241, when ethnic conflicts with the Hungarians caused them to leave the Kingdom of Hungary . It has been accepted in Bulgarian historiography that Shishman's first wife was an unnamed daughter of Anna-Teodora and sebastokrator Peter and thus a maternal granddaughter of Emperor Ivan Asen II (r. 1218–1241) of

1170-468: Was bestowed the title of " despot " by Bulgarian emperor George Terter I , was a Cuman , and may have been established as lord of Vidin as early as the 1270s. In 1291, he came under Golden Horde ("Tatar") suzerainty and in 1292 he was in charge of an unsuccessful campaign against neighbouring Serbia . Even though the Serbs captured Vidin in their counter-offensive, perhaps thanks to Tatar influence Shishman

1209-405: Was called, was a considerable town, with a population of about 26,000, and a garrison of 8,000 to 10,000 men. Widdin is one of the important fortified places of the military line of the Danube. It covers the approaches of Servia , commands Little Wallachia , the defiles of Transylvania , and, above all, the opening of the road which leads through Nissia and Sophia on to Adrianople . Its form

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1248-500: Was elected to the Bulgarian throne due to the childless death of Emperor George Terter II (r. 1321–1322). Besides Michael, Shishman's other progeny included Belaur , another despot of Vidin, and Keratsa Petritsa , the mother of Bulgarian emperor Ivan Alexander (r. 1331–1371). Bulgarian historian Ivan Bozhilov classifies all of Shishman's known children as descendants of the Asen dynasty, thus indicating that they were born to his first wife,

1287-630: Was even forced to send his son Stefan Dečanski into captivity in order to prevent a Tatar attack. Although Shishman's realm was nominally a Serbian client state for an unknown time, he retained his prior semi-independence and he was completely in charge of his lands. He maintained good relations with Bulgaria and, according to Andreev, his political activity was mainly concentrated in dealing with Bulgaria. He also retained his close ties with Nogai and his descendants. In 1301–1302, Shishman provided political refuge to several of Nogai's relatives, including his grandson Qara-Kesek, who fled to Vidin along with

1326-482: Was forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of Nogai in order to counter the increasing Serbian pressure from the west. In the same year, the joint forces of brothers, one Hungarian vassal Stefan Dragutin , and Serbian king Stefan Milutin (r. 1280–1321), had managed to oust two Cuman–Bulgarian nobles and allies of Shishman, Darman and Kudelin , who were in control of the Braničevo region. As result, Shishman failed to repel

1365-459: Was much more successful. His counter-attack resulted in Serbian forces reaching Vidin and capturing Shishman's capital after a brief siege. The despot, however, managed to escape north of the Danube to the safety of his Tatar suzerains. Instead of annexing Shishman's lands, Milutin reinstalled Shishman as the despot of Vidin and concluded an alliance with him. To confirm the alliance, Shishman married

1404-705: Was occupied by Magyar crusaders . Under Hungarian rule, the city became known as Bodony , but the occupation was short-lived. In 1369, the Bulgarian Empire drove out the Hungarian military, but in 1396 Vidin was occupied by a foreign force again this time being the Ottoman Empire under Bayezid I after the Battle of Nicopolis . The Ottomans went on to conquer the despotates of Dobrudzha , Prilep and Velbazhd as well. Vidin's independence did not last long. In 1396,

1443-457: Was perhaps elevated to the position of despot of Vidin soon after the accession of another Bulgarian noble of Cuman origin, George Terter I (r. 1280–1292), to the Bulgarian throne in 1280. Shishman was likely a close relative, perhaps even a brother, of George Terter I. Shishman's domain comprised "much of the Bulgarian land" as well as "adjacent countries", as reported by the account of Serbian archbishop Danilo . Indeed, his lands constituted

1482-505: Was placed once more as the ruler of the region, this time as a Serbian vassal. However, he continued to rule his lands largely independently. As his son and successor as despot of Vidin Michael Shishman acceded to the Bulgarian throne in 1323, Shishman was the progenitor of the last medieval Bulgarian royal dynasty, the Shishman dynasty . Shishman's early life and rise through the ranks of the Bulgarian nobility are poorly documented. He

1521-523: Was unsuccessfully besieged by the Serbian army during the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 and the Second Balkan War in 1913. Vidin is the 20th town by population in Bulgaria, but serious demographic problems have been experienced in the area during the last two decades. The number of the residents of the city reached its peak between 1988 and 1991 when the population exceeded 65,000. As of 2011,

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