Vidin's theatre building went up in 1891 on money gathered by a fund started four years earlier — the first house in Bulgaria put up specifically for theatre, with parterre, boxes, galleries, an orchestra pit and a glass roof, lit by gas and arranged after La Scala. It opened on the eve of the new year. The company behind it goes back to 1879; the state took it over in 1953 and gave it the actor Vladimir Trandafilov's name in 1972.