Acceptance of the Museum Center’s building

Details

Created on Friday, 13 February 2009 17:34

Today it was the ceremony of acceptance of the new building to accommodate the Museum Center "Thracian Art in the Eastern Rhodopes" near the village of Alexandrovo, Haskovo Municipality. Japanese specialists and Bulgarian contractors, who worked on the project, handed over to Minister of Culture Professor Stefan Danailov full construction and technical documentation of the completed site and equipment. The museum’s building, which keeps a replica of the unique Tomb of Alexandrovo, was built and equipped with funding of 341 million Japanese yen, provided by the Government of Japan. Haskovo Municipality invested nearly BGN 500,000 in the infrastructure of the area. The local administration will run the Museum Center "Thracian Art in the Eastern Rhodopes", the Minister of Culture confirmed.

Over 330 stones with a total weight exceeding 80 tonnes were used in creating a replica of the Tomb of Alexandrovo, said Vladimir Tsvetkov, head of the team which reproduced the tomb. Particular attention was paid to the precise reproduction of the murals. They are meant to exactly look like the original after their restoration. They used acrylic paint of the same type as the original but with another composition to avoid any confusion with the original in 10,000 years, said the chair of the Association of Restorers in Bulgaria Professor Grigoriy Grigorov.

The Tomb of Alexandrovo was excavated in 2000 by late archaeologist Dr. Georgi Kitov. Built in IV century B.C. it is unique with its frescoes, said Professor Valentin Todorov, who is responsible for the original tomb’s restoration. In recent months, experts were able to stop the destruction and enhance the murals. The tomb will be proposed for inclusion to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

"More than 10,000 Japanese tourists visit Bulgaria every year," said His Excellency Ambassador to Bulgaria Tsuneharu Takeda. He was hopeful that each of them will visit the Museum Center "Thracian Art in the Eastern Rhodopes" near the village of Alexandrovo, given also the fact that the Japanese are keenly interested in culture and history, and the region of Haskovo and the Eastern Rhodopes as a whole can offer much to see in this respect.