Kauffman Commentary

The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet began in the 9th century. It currently has a total of 30 letters. Most Slavic countries use this alphabet, including Russia.

Vidin is known for its castle/fortress “Baba Vida” that was built during the 12th century, the building was overseen by the daughter of a wealthy Bulgarian. Tsar Ivan, the last tsar of the Bulgarian empire was the last to live there before the fall to the Ottomans in the 1300s. It has a moat and many spiral staircases down to the rooms. 

The city center has a nice pedestrian area that includes a part of the old wall. It was built by the Romans in the 3rd century, then fortified by the Bulgars (Turkic nomads) in the 10th -14th century and further updated by the Ottomans in the 17th century.

There is a park that leads up to the castle. Across from the park we found a fixer-upper with possibilities. A new roof would be a must!

Our guide today told us that Jews from Bulgaria were not sent to concentration camps during WWII. Bulgaria sided with Hitler, so this was a surprise to us. After reading more about this, it seems that most Jews, about 50,000 were not sent, but about 11,000 were.  Below is the monument that the Jews erected thanking the town of Vidin for not deporting its Jews during the Holocaust.