Bulgaria Drone Minute - Belogradchik Fortress, Vidin

Hi everyone, 

This one's a bit special. I recently found an old SD card that I thought was lost, and on it was footage I filmed back in 2016, flying my very first drone, a DJI Phantom 3 Pro, over the Belogradchik Fortress in northwestern Bulgaria. So today, almost ten years later, I finally get to share it with you.

Belogradchik Fortress, also known as Kaleto, sits in the province of Vidin, built right into the base of the Belogradchik Rocks — these strange, towering sandstone formations that rise up around it. The site itself goes back to Roman times, when it was built to guard a key regional road. Centuries later, in the 14th century, the Bulgarian tsar of Vidin, Ivan Stratsimir, expanded it into one of the most important strongholds in the region. The Ottomans captured it at the end of that century and continued to use it for defense for hundreds of years afterward, right up until the late 19th century.

Looking back at this footage now, it's a strange feeling. The image quality is nowhere near what we work with today, but there's something about revisiting a place through ten-year-old footage that makes it feel even more meaningful. Belogradchik was one of the first incredible places I ever flew over, and I'm glad this footage didn't stay lost forever.

Enjoy the flight.