ARHICUP

BSB867   BLACK SEA ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY AND CULURE PORTAL / ArHiCuP

 

Project Summury

 

      The project Black Sea Archaeology, History and Culture Portal (ArHiCuP) is a transnational project financed by the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020, part of European Union’s Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) under its European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). The project is realized by three Partners: Nessebar Municipality, Bulgaria (Lead Beneficiary), Museum for National History and Archeology Constanta (MINAC), Romania, and National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM), Republic of Moldova.

      The overall objective of the ARHICUP project is to promote the archaeological, historical and cultural tourism in the Black Sea region by presenting the rich treasures of its cultural heritage in a coherent way, using advanced web technologies. An Open Internet Portal is created on a dedicated server, enabled to collect and represent digital data in different formats. The data are provided by the Project Partners as well as by museums, academic institutions, research groups, collectors and individuals. The Portal as a repository is optimized to keep: an integrated library system, a digital library for description and presentation of bibliographic data, an utility for presenting 3D models of archaeological artefacts as well as sites like buildings, monuments, excavations, a digital collection of old maps of the Black Sea region and a Web-GIS for georeferencing the presented items. For this purpose, 3D scanning and modeling equipment was acquired.

Project Duration:  01.06.2020 – 30.11.2022

 

Project Description

 

       The rich archaeological and historical heritage of the Black Sea coast is a basic prerequisite for the development of cultural tourism. Archaeologists, researchers and museum workers have gathered a tremendous amount of information about this heritage, which, however, is often difficult to access for non-specialists and has been scattered in different places. The tourism business needs reliable access to such information, which is both scientifically validated and presented in an attractive and accessible to the general public form.
       The cross-border nature of the accumulation of this information bank is of paramount importance because the archaeological and historical monuments testifying to the millennial civilization development of the Black Sea region belong to the whole of mankind and go beyond the significance of the national borders.
       The joint construction of the ARHICUP Information Portal represents a bridge between academia as a source of relevant data on historical knowledge and its users and stakeholders - the tourism business and the general public.

 

Project Focus

 

• Project Overall Objective

Promoting opportunities for cultural tourism in the region trough presenting the archaeological, historical and cultural heritage with the means of advanced web technologies.

 

• Project Main Results

- Creation of a framework for cross border cooperation in order to develop a joint tool for presenting the archaeological, historical and cultural heritage of the Black Sea region;

- Building an information bridge between the academic community and the tourism business;

- Preserving and promoting the monuments in their cultural landscape and natural environment through their integration into local plans for spatial development;

- Creation of the conditions for the socioeconomic development of the region through cultural tourism.  

• Project Specific Objectives
• Project Specific Objective 1

Creating a thematic web Portal - Development of a complex web-based software system allowing presentation of digital information in different formats to large public and interest groups.

• Project Specific Objective 2

Digital content creation - Developing a joint framework and shared expertise for digital content creation including bibliographic data, 3D models, digital collections and georeferenced digital maps.

• Project Specific Objective 3

Communicating the project objectives and outputs - Communicating the project objectives, outputs and benefits to the large public and the tourist business sector.

 

Project Context

All three cities involved in the project have many years of experience in preserving and presenting the regional historical heritage. In all three cities there are historical museums with rich collections and a long tradition. The need to upgrade existing approaches through this project stems from two key points:
1. The digitization of the historical heritage is a global trend embedded in the European Union's strategies;
2. Cross-border cooperation in the field of historical heritage raises a new quality of its performance, both through the exchange of good practices, know-how and views, as well as by increasing the mutual visibility of the achievements of the different countries.