In the morning, we visited Belogradchik rocks and fortress. In the afternoon, we visited Baba Vida Fortress and enjoyed tasting Bulgarian wines. The Belogradchik Rocks are a group of strangely shaped sandstone and conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains in northwest Bulgaria. The rocks vary in color from primarily red to yellow; some of the rocks reach up to 200 m in height. I can proudly say that I climbed up to the top. The fortress is believed to have been constructed during the time of the Roman Empire.

The first Bulgarian empire was created in the six century when the Bulgars and the Vlacks made a treaty to unite. The Vlacks are also a minority in Romania. Our Bucharest guide was a Vlack. The Cyrillic script was developed at this time. The Empire lasted until the early 11th century when a variety of conquerors ran through Bulgaria ending with the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman rule ended after WW I. In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and became a socialist state . The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989.

After visiting the rocks, we went to the Baba Vida fortress. The Baba Vida fortress is one of the most significant and well-preserved historical relics not only in the province of Vidin but in Bulgaria as a whole. Here are the pictures.

Just down the street from the fortress is this synagogue. Built in 1894 in the neo-Gothic style, the Vidin synagogue was Bulgaria’s second largest synagogue, a testament to the wealth and pride of the local community that had flourished for more than five centuries after its arrival from Spain in the fifteenth century. It is currently being restored to be a cultural and interfaith center. Here are some pictures.

We finished the afternoon tour with some wine tasting of local Bulgarian wines. They actually were quite good.

After dinner, we were entertain by a group of young Bulgarian folk dancers.