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Egyptian company to revamp Sofia's iconic building TSUM

Photo: BGNES

The Egyptian company Antica World will today present an architectural project for the reconstruction of the TSUM - Central Universal Department Store in the centre of Sofia. 

The company will take over the transformation and management of one of the Bulgarian capital's iconic buildings, which will house three museums - an Egyptian Museum, a Bulgarian Museum and a Rose Oil Museum - as well as luxury shops, a business centre, a tourist centre and a five-star hotel with a spa. Promoting the country as a year-round health tourism destination is also part of the project. 

Two global architecture studios - GLV of France, which specialises in modern urban projects, and MADA of Egypt - are responsible for the architectural design.

The TSUM in Sofia was first opened in 1957. Designed by architect Kosta Nikolov, it was for a long time the largest shopping centre on the Balkan peninsula, selling goods from A to Z. In the days of socialism, it was a compulsory first stop for those arriving in Sofia from the countryside - with a direct tram connection from Sofia Central Station, it was also a popular meeting place for the citizens of Sofia. In the 1980s it was visited by 100,000 people a day. The first escalators in the country were installed here.



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