Continue along E-79 and 53 km from Mihailovgrad turn left to Belogradchik. Nearby is one of Bulgaria's interesting natural phenomena — the Belogradchik Rocks. A French traveller in 1841 wrote about this unique world of rocks; 'We left Belogradcliik and an undreamt of landscape burst upon us. We wandered among intertwining gorges surrounded by scarlet rocks of most bizarre shapes. These solitary rocks or groups of rocks were now like Egyptian obelisks, now like enormous stalagmites, or resembled animals, ships or houses… The famous Oliul gorges in Provence, the Pancorbo defile in Spain, the Alps, the Pyrenes the oldest mountains in Tyrol or Switzerland — all these are incomparable with what I saw near Belogradchik in Bulgaria.' The rocks cover an area 30 km long and 3 km wide. In the 1st century the Romans built a fortress among the rocks, which guarded the road between Ratsiaria (present-day Archar) on the Danube and Naisus (Nis) on the Nishava. This fortress is associated with the unsuccessful uprising in North-west Bulgaria in 1850; Russian liberating troops in 1878 participants of the 1923 Uprising and partisans in 1943-1944 have all passed this way. In the town of – gradchik (pop. 7,300) is a Hotel Bclogradchik Rocks, two stars, accommodating 134 (tel. 31-51), Narcoop hotel — 70 beds, a tourist hostel — 160 and the Madonna camping site with 40 beds in bungalows,
Magoura Cave
Back to the E-79 and before reaching Dimovo turn left towards the village of Rabisha. A solitary unwooded hill, Magou- ra, towers over Rabisha lake. On its southern slope is the entrance to the world-famous Magoura Cave. For millions of years water has moulded the soft limestone rocks, creating a spacious underground world. The cave is well-appointed, with electricity, convenient staircases and paths leading to underground passages. Remains of clay vessels, animal bones sofia daily tours, fireplaces and iron objects were found in the cave, showing that it was inhabited as far back as the 3rd millennium B.C. The most interesting thing here are the rock drawings in the cave's left branch, some 200 m from the entrance. Though opinions differ, the most recent archaeological finds date them back to the beginning of the Bronze Age (2,700 B.C.).
Returning to the main road, continue towards Vidin (58,000), situated on the Danube. This is one of Bulgaria's oldest towns. The Celts built a settlement here called Douponia in the 3rd century B.C. On its ruins the Romans built the Bonnonia fortress. During the Middle Ages the town was known as Bdin. In 1371 Ivan Sratsimir, son of Tsar Ivan Alexander, declared himself an independent ruler of the Vidin Kingdom. Bdin of the Middle Ages was an important trading centre — to its port came goods from Wallachia, Hungary and Dubrovnik. Scripts from those times have come down to us — a gospel kept in the British Museum in London, and the Bdin Collection — in the library of Ghent, Belgium. Many uprisings began here in the 19tb century, the most important of which was the great peasant uprising of 1850. Vidin was liberated from Ottoman domination by troops of the west Romanian corps on February 24, 1878. Today the town is a major administrative, industrial and cultural centre. The town is the cultural centre of North-West Bulgaria, with a drama theatre, philharmonic orchestra, art gallery, history museum, library club founded as early as 1870, cinemas, etc.
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