WHERE IS IT?
Vidin Gate is located in the northeastern part of the Fortress, on the corner of today's Dunavska Street and Vojvoda Bojović's Boulevard.
Click on the map to get directions.
Photo: Andrija Soković/Beotura
THE HISTORY
The gate was built between 1740 and 1750. In its place, centuries ago, there were gates that entered the city. As early as 1521, during the conquest of Belgrade, the Turkish army entered the city through the East Gate, which is located at the Vidin Gate. This shows the strategic importance of the position of the Vidin Gate. Vidin Gate, like some others, was built during the Turkish reconstruction of the Fortress. There used to be the Austrian gate in its place. When, in 1739, after the Austro-Turkish wars, Belgrade belonged to the Turks, they first destroyed the entire Fortress and then rebuilt it. The Vidin Gate was built on the site of the Austrian gate. Since 1946, the gate has been on the list of cultural monuments, and until then it served as a military facility and was used to control the exit and entry into the Lower Town. It was restored in 2012 and many parts of it were renovated then. However, despite the restoration, it has retained its original shape and appearance to this day.
EXTERIOR
It is mostly built of brick, but stone parts can also be noticed on the outside. There were 4 rooms around the gate. The rooms had the role of barracks, where the soldiers stayed, which can be noticed because there are fireplaces in all four rooms. What distinguishes it from the others is that it did not have cannon platforms, although it was strategically very important. The gate was decorated with three hexagonal rosettes, yellow and dark red, identical to those on the Stambol Gate. The gate, however, had a number of shortcomings. Namely, it was very low and during the floods that hit Belgrade in 1790, the gates and the rooms where the soldiers were staying were flooded. On the rampart, on which the gate rests, there was a loophole, with room for 24 soldiers to defend the city. In front of the gate there was a wooden bridge, which was built only after the completion of works on the gate.
Pripremio: Andrija Soković
