Fikardou village: guiding towards a digital future in cultural heritage preservation
Quasi-abandoned villages come back to life and become success stories, easily accessible from wherever you are. This is the story of the village of Fikardou, one of the 8 pilots of the European project TExTOUR, an EU-funded initiative aimed at promoting sustainable tourism development in remote areas.
Located in the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus, Fikardou has innovatively developed a platform enabling all visitors to delve into its history, tradition, culture, and heritage, all made possible by the power of modern technologies.
In the ever-evolving landscape of Cultural Heritage (CH) preservation, digital documentation is ushering in a new era of understanding, conservation, and societal engagement.
This infopack delves into the multifaceted world of digital recording and emphasises its role in capturing the essence of the past, preserving it for posterity, and fostering knowledge dissemination to future generations and the general public such as educators and tourists. Through 3D digitisation, CH objects, structures, and environments are not merely archived but brought to life digitally, enabling in-depth analysis, interpretation, and promotion.
The complexity of selecting optimal technologies for digitisation underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and strategic planning in documentation projects. Drawing upon the case study of Fikardou Village in Cyprus, we start our journey to explore the transformative power of digital preservation in revitalising cultural landscapes and promoting tourism. As part of TExTOUR project, the UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) team has undertaken a holistic endeavour to digitise Fikardou Village, thereby creating an immersive online platform for global access. From data acquisition to storage, each step in the digital preservation process is meticulously executed to ensure data integrity, accessibility, and long-term sustainability. Through initiatives like the digitisation of Fikardou Village, we honour our past but also pave the way for a more inclusive and interconnected future, where cultural heritage serves as a beacon of identity, inspiration, and unity.
This comprehensive approach safeguards tangible heritage but also celebrates the intangible essence of cultural identity, tradition, and values, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of our shared heritage on a global scale. As we move through the complexities of the digital age, the road to CH preservation is illuminated by the transformative potential of digital technologies, forging new pathways towards sustainable conservation and societal enrichment.
Read more: TExTOUR Infopack road to digital cultural tourism
Contacts:
Project coordinator:
Daniel Basulto- Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico
Communication Manager:
Nicola Vuolo ICONS- nicola.vuolo@icons.it
Silvia Prazzoli ICONS- silvia.prazzoli@icons.it
Project website: https://textour-project.eu/
Twitter: @tex_tour
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/textour-project/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/textour.project
YouTube: @TExTOUR_project
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