The museum “Kazarma Krastata” is part of the regional museum complex of Vidin.Kazarma Krastata, was built by order of the local leader, Osman Pazvantoglu in 1801 for the needs of the Ottoman army in the city. In its place, before was the garden of the Old Palace. There is also a covered wooden bridge, which links the weapons shop from the neighborhood. After release has served as a court and as barracks of the Bulgarian army. Was built the clock tower, but the building is not preserved.
The building is in a rare form of regular geometric cross and because of its uniqueness was declared a cultural monument of local importance.
It is a massive two-storey building cross shaped with equal built arms with an area of up to 1260mp. Each wing has a system of corridors going to different locations on site. It is not known the building original interior design, since it has been changed several times according to the requirements of new services and features. The stairs connecting the 2 levels have also been rebuilt many times, and are not known their original location and type. The walls of the ground and the upper floor are made of stone and brick with lime-sand solution.
Inside the barracks are particularly impressing the 4 pillars with clipped corners, the gallery, that has emphasized the monumentality from the central level, on 2 floors. The center line is naturally directed in four directions oppositely disposed at the 2nd floor corridor. The centre is one of the most representative area.
Entrances to the building are located at the corners, diagonally across the central part, and determines the development of two new axes different from the axis of the barracks building (its wings corridors).
During 1965-1967, the building was restored and adapted for the museum. Later it was restored and strengthened under a project worth 1.5 million leva, financed mainly by the EU, completed in early 2013. A year later, the construction cracked (fissures that existed before the renovation) leaks through the roof, and the museum was once again closed because were not granted the necessary BGN 0,5 million for the windows.
Since 1969 the building has an ethnographic exhibition featuring the traditional culture of the population from Vidin region from the late nineteenth century up to 1920.
The artifacts occupy two main floors, several rooms with extremely valuable exhibits that mention about the life and lifestyle of the local population. Among the most interesting are those showing the rituals and traditional costumes of the region. Clothing and elements of urban life illustrate the links between Vidin and most of the countries in Europe. There are texts in 5 languages – Bulgarian, Russian, English, German and French, which greatly facilitates the visit.