Haskovo councillors have approved a request asking the state to let the town manage the Alexandrovo tomb, the "Thracian Art in the Eastern Rhodopes" Museum Centre and the street and car park next to them for 10 years, free of charge. The aim is to let the municipality apply for outside funding.

Mayor Stanislav Dechev made the proposal.

More on this story: Haskovo councillors to decide on running Alexandrovo tomb

Councillors voted on it at their 23rd session. The meeting opened with 37 councillors present, enough for a quorum. The agenda had 41 items and one extra, "Questions".

There are three properties: the museum centre, the street and the car park. All are public state property. The municipality must now start a procedure with the state to win the right to manage them.

The Regional History Museum in Haskovo will look after the sites. It will protect them and handle upkeep and repairs. The plan also covers access control, cleaning and tourist services such as souvenirs and information materials.

Dechev says a 10-year right to manage the sites will let the municipality apply under the Regional Development Programme 2021–2027, the cross-border cooperation programmes and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The report to the council says the museum complex needs integrated management and outside funding from EU and national programmes. To get money from current programmes, the municipality must hold a formal right to manage the property. That way, outside funds will not put much strain on the municipal budget.

Under the decision, the costs of running and maintaining the sites will be paid from the municipal budget, the municipality's own income from tourism and funding raised from international programmes and EU funds. The municipality has said it is ready to take on these costs.

The original tomb dates from the 4th century BC. It is closed to visitors to protect its murals. Tourists see an exact copy of it in the Museum Centre, whose building was put up with a donation from the Japanese government.

The centre already has interactive terminals and an audio guide in several languages. They come from a joint project, "Young Voices, Ancient Wisdom", run by the Regional History Museum in Haskovo and the Vučedol Culture Museum in the Croatian city of Vukovar. The centre also offers 3D virtual tours of the original tomb.

One option for the future is to add augmented reality to these tours.