The town was founded in the second century as Ratiaria during the Roman empire. It was originally a Roman military fort. Ratiaria would become the capital of Dacia under the reign of Aurelian. The fort was sacked by the Huns in 440 or 441 and the Avars took the fort in 586. In 1883 a school was opened in the town. In 1898 a neoclassical community center was built. After the Balkan War began in 1912, 2 people from Akchar volunteered to fight in the war. In 1923 the Communist government of Bulgaria evicted 11 people, or 3 families from the village. In 1939 the town changed its name from Akchar to Archar. A Labor Cooperative Agricultural Farm was established in 1945. The agricultural farm was one of the earliest in the Vidin province. From 1981 to 1991 archaeological excavations were carried out in the village by a team of Bulgarians and Italians. The excavations were carried out by the Archaeological Institute and Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences as well as the Department of Ancient History at the University of Bologna. The excavation continued until they lost their funding in the early 90's. After 1989 more the 60% of the town's population emigrated. Many of the people remaining in the town lost their jobs. The town mainly subsisted off treasury raids, which lead to the destruction of parts of the ruins of Ratiaria. Including the icons left by Tsar Boris III.