Bulgaria Aims for Cultural Tourism

A grand new art museum in Sofia will showcase the country's treasures and attract more tourists, but funds are scarce and critics abundent.

In an abandoned building in the heart of the Bulgarian capital, huge holes gape in the walls where doors used to be. Bits of wood, pieces of shredded wall, and other construction debris lie scattered on the floor.

Once used by the city's technical university before being abandoned for years, the space now echoes with the sounds of construction workers and machinery.

Sometime in 2012 these corridors should be flooded with visitors and art lovers, when the building becomes the flagship of a new museum complex. Dubbed the "Bulgarian Louvre" (though it is not related to the Paris Louvre), it is to showcase the best of the country's culture and art stretching back to antiquity.

Get the full story at: BusinessWeek.com