Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Gradually I came to extend the sphere of my labour, as the knowledge grew upon me that at least one other chapter of modern history in con nection with that much-fought-for town is un recorded: the attacks of the Servians in 1885 and the heroic defence of the Bulgarian garrison. That, after I had decided to include this event, I had to make my work comprehend also the Turco Servian War of 1876 was almost a matter of necessity. From this to brief accounts of the part which Widdin and Calafat played in the Oriental War, 18 5 3 and 1854, and in the russo-turkish campaign of 1828 and 1829, and of Pasvan Oq's remarkable rebellion in the beginning of the present century - all episodes practically unknown to the average reader - it was but a few steps more; and a general, though unavoidably sketchy, retrospect of the history of the town, since its foundation by the Romans, followed in natural sequence. This is the evolution of the present work.