St. Dimitar Cathedral Temple - Vidin

When in 1718 Vidin became a border city of the Ottoman Empire. This is why there was a new border law saying that the Bulgarians were not allowed to live inside the city walls (The Citadel). As a result of this new regulation there was an urgent need of a new temple to be built outside the stronghold which happened in the end of 17th c. The new cathedral was named after the Thessalonikian holy martyr Dimitriy. Soon it became an important cultural center of all Bulgarians. The cathedral is the second biggest one in Bulgaria after St. Alexander Nevski in Sofia. On December 6, 1868 for the first time in the newest Bulgarian history a liturgy served by a Bulgarian bishop in Bulgarian language took place. Since then the church became home of the Vidin bishop Antim, who was proclaimed as the first Bulgarian exarch, four years later. The Cathedral-temple St. Dimitar has a cruciform shape with three longitudinal and one transverse nave. The central dome rests on four pillars that emphasize its size and appearance. The height of the central dome is 33 meters. The cathedral is considered as one of the most important and considerable Bulgarian cultural monuments.