When we were in Vidin Bulgaria, we were brought to Baba Vida a medieval castle right in the town. It was the town’s primary landmark. It consists of two concentric curtain walls and 9 towers of which three are preserved to their full medieval height, including the original battlements. It is the only entirely preserved medieval castle in Bulgaria. I am not sure why but there is no water in the moat now, though historically it was filled with water.

Construction began on the castle in the 10^th century A.D. on the site of an earlier Roman castle at Bononia. This castle, like Bran castle has attracted a legend, or should we say conspiracy theory. According to legend, a Danubian Bulgarian king who ruled at Vidin had three daughters: Vida, Kula and Gamza. Prior to his death, he divided his realm among the three daughters. Vida, the eldest, was given Vidin and the lands north to the Carpathians while Kula was awarded Zajecar and the Timok Valley and the third daughter Gamza was given the land to the west up to Morava. Both Gamza and Kula did not marry wisely. They married drunken bums who had a nasty proclivity for war. The name of Vida’s castle is Baba Vida, which as anyone who knows a little bit of Ukrainian knows means Granny Vida.

So this is the castle that has survived. It was the main defensive fortress of Bulgaria during all of the Middle Ages. The castle withstood an 8-month siege by Byzantine forces led by Basil II.  During the rule of Tsar Ivan Sratsimir (1356-1369) it was modernized and enlarged and served as his capital. The Hungarians took it over, by force of course, from 1365 to 1369, so their reign was brief. Ivan Sratsimir regained it in 1369 but Hungarians still ruled. In time of course, the Ottomans took control during their reign which lasted about 500 years.

In the town of Vidin, we learned as we drove through it on our bus, that only 18 Jews are left in the city, even though there was a very large synagogue. It was built years ago when there were many Jews in the city. As we know, many Jews were murdered during the Second World War when Bulgaria was occupied by Nazi Germany. Many had to flee or were captured and sent to concentration camps. No one talked about the concentration camps but I did find out about them. More on that later.

Our local guide was very proud that the synagogue was now a cultural centre. She was also proud that now within the city in about 1 small block, there was a mosque, a church, and a synagogue and all the people from all 3 religions now got along well. Apparently, their religious leaders frequently meet to have coffee together and discuss issues of the day. In Vidin now there is tolerance and pluralism. People believe in the idea of “live and let live.”  Each community is free to worship as they see fit without any harassment from any other religion.

That’s the way it is now, but it was not always like that. More on that later.

We had a lovely visit to a special place, namely Belogradchik Bulgaria. “Belogradchik” means Small White Town and is found in Vidin province in the northwest part of Bulgaria and about 50 km south of the Danube River. It is just east of the Serbian border. It has a population of about 5,000 people. It is most famous for its fortress amid the Belogradchik rocks which provide its sensational setting. Frankly, the rocks reminded me of the Superstition Mountains of souther Arizona.

Belogradchik Fortress, also known as Kaleto, which comes from the Turkish word kale is a very old fortress on the north slopes of the Balkan Mountains. It was built by the Romans in the 3^rd  century AD. Naturally, it has become a famous tourist attraction drawing tourists from as far away as Steinbach, Manitoba. It is one of the best-preserved strongholds in Bulgaria and a cultural monument of national importance.

The fortress’s walls are more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) thick in the foundation and reach up to 12 m (39 ft) in height. It consists of 3 separate fortified yards connected with each other through gates. The fortress has a total area of 10,210 square metres (109,900 sq ft). The Belogradchik Fortress was reconstructed to later become a proclaimed cultural monument.

The fortress was originally built by the Romans during its empire to defend its northern border from the ugly hordes. It uses the natural rock walls as part of the fortress together with fortified stone walls. The yard is beautifully surrounded by rocks. The rocks are up to 70 m high (230 ft.). At first its primary task was to serve as a means of surveillance and not so much defense. Fortified garrisons were added in the 14^th century. Of all the castles in Bulgaria, it was only secondary in importance to the fortress of Baba in Vidin which we saw later in the day.

The fortress was captured by the Ottomans in 1393. Many changes were made to the fort in the 19^th century by the Ottomans but has European elements because the engineers were French and Italian. There was some globalization even then.

An important part of the splendor of the fortress is of course the surrounding rocks. Those rocks are of course bit older than the fortress. The rocks were formed 230 million years ago, when this land was located at the bottom of a shallow sea. Sedimentary rocks consisting of limestone components were created by the forces of weight and subsequent erosion. Much later a crack appeared in the sea bottom and water drained out to the red sea revealing the beautiful  red and orange rocks and 20 centuries of history in the Balkan Mountains.

On our walk up the hill, I noticed a man slip down and fall right in front of me on the trail up to the fort. I must mention that falls were a big part of this trip. Our tour director kept warning us to watch our step but that did not help. Frankly, many of the sites were not very safe.  I heeded his advice and did not walk all the way up. Later I regretted that decision because I did not see the fortress from the inside nestled against the big rocks.  Perhaps I was too cautious. I was disappointed how little people in the Balkans soften the hurdles to seeing the sites and failed to provide railings or adequate steps. As a result sliding and slipping on the rocks was a bit treacherous. So I only walked part way up. Now I wonder if I gave up to easily.