a city and port in extreme northwestern Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube. Administrative center of Vidin District. Population, 36,800 (1965). The city is an important transportation junction; a train ferry links the Bulgarian and Rumanian railroads. Vidin is the center of an agricultural region with well-developed viticulture. Industry is represented by plants producing synthetic fiber and cord tires; by machine building and the food industry (flour-milling, vegetable-oil refineries, and fruit-canning plants; and wine-making, with the Gamza and Dimiat wines being exported); and by the manufacture of porcelain products and cigarettes. Vidin is also a center of tourism. There is a people’s museum. The architectural monuments include St. Panteleimon Church, built in 1633, with paintings from 1676; and St. Petka Church (17th century).
Vidin was founded under the name of Bononia by Roman legionnaires in the province of Mysia. In the sixth century it was built up by Justinian I. In the late 13th century it became the center of the Vidin Principality, and in the second half of the 14th century, the capital of the Vidin Kingdom. The Baba Vida Fortress on the Danube, which was probably built in the 12th to 14th centuries and rebuilt many times, is a mighty stone defensive installation, almost square in layout, with square towers.
In 1396, Vidin was conquered by the Turks. During the wars between Turkey and the European powers from the 15th to the 18th centuries the city was besieged many times. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries the fortress was sur-rounded by a protective wall. From 1794 to 1807, Vidin was a residence of the local pasha Pazvandoglu. In 1850 a major peasant uprising took place in the surroundings of Vidin. After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turkish yoke in 1878, Vidin became part of the Bulgarian Principality. During World War II it was a center of the guerrilla struggle.