Italian Businessman "Buys" Bulgarian Village

Politics | August 30, 2006, Wednesday // 00:00

An Italian businessman is planning to buy up a deserted village near the southern Bulgarian town of Ardino, so he could turn it into a centre for rural tourism.

A total of two people now live in the village of Diadovtsi, although these used to be more than 600 a quarter of a century ago, private bTV channel reports. Most of the inhabitants have left for Turkey, leaving their properties behind.

Italian businessman Paolo Bartali found out about the deserted village by chance and he fell in love with the nature and the old-style houses. He plans to restore them and create lots of work places for people in the area once the rural tourism centre opens.

Bartali is thinking of starting with the renovation works by the end of the year, and the two villagers left do not seem to mind. Sali Kyosov says he doesn't care about the Italian's plan, as long as he can live the rest of his life in peace.

The other inhabitant is more optimistic and he tells the media that the Italian would not only fix the houses but would also bring a team of technicians and architects to fix the roads to the village too. Raycho Danailov is hopeful that the village would enter a late renaissance, once Italian tourists start coming.

Reports say that Bartali also has his eye on a couple of properties in nearby municipalities.

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