Mezdra

Mezdra (Bulgarian: Мездра) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously since prehistoric times, Mezdra remained a small village of 86 residents (1881 census) and continued to decline (76 residents in 1888) until 1893, when the construction of the Sofia-Roman railway began, with workers from all around the country arriving to update the infrastructure. As the village became an important railway junction with the opening of the railway on 20 February 1897, its population grew substantially. Mezdra had a population of 311 in 1900 and 1,015 in 1920. Although it...