The Vlachs of Vidin Area Between Past and Present

Abstract

The Vlachs in Northwestern Bulgaria between past and future Valeri Georgiev. The Vlachs are people living around the city of Vidin who speak a language akin to the modern Romanian. They've migrated from the lands of what is now Oltenia, Southwestern Romania on several waves between XVIII and XIX century and still speak their language, as well as Bulgarian. There are other groups of Vlachs in Serbia and they are also connected to the Romanian people of today. The historical part describes the Vlachs as the pre-Slavic inhabitants of the Balkans who got romanised during the long reign of the Roman Empire in the area. The main idea of the article is to give a look on how the Vlachs from Northwestern Bulgaria, being divided by different national borders from their related groups, still got their ways to communicate and interact by means of cultural contacts, trade (legal or illegal) and tourism. There are also few examples about the problem of the so-called "labor migrations" popular among the Vlachs who are going abroad due to financial issues, leaving behind children and relatives and becoming the financial back-bone of the family and eventually settle in different countries, sometimes forever.

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