Cyprus mediaeval castles to get digital tour upgrade

The antiquities department has installed four new digital information points (infokiosks) at four of Cyprus’ mediaeval castles.

The new infokiosks will serve Limassol castle, Larnaca castle, Paphos castle and Kolossi castle, with the aim of informing visitors about the history and role of the four mediaeval castles and the four observation towers located on the southern coast of Cyprus in Pervolia (Kition), Pyla, Xylofagou and Alaminos.

The kiosks are within the framework of the European Programme “Digital Cultural Arc Greece – Cyprus: Preservation and Promotion of Mediaeval Cultural Heritage in the Aegean and Cyprus Islands (DigiArc)”.

“Its implementation, which was a key deliverable of the DigiArc project, was achieved thanks to the close cooperation between the Department of Antiquities and the Cyprus University of Technology, which are the two Cypriot partners of the European Programme,” a press release noted.

The electronic-digital book (ebook) included in the information points is common to all four points and the user can choose either Greek or English.

Visitors to the four mediaeval castles can use the digital book to learn about the historical route of each monument and its various architectural phases.

The texts are accompanied by rich photographic material documenting the present form of the monuments, photographs from the period of their conservation by the antiquities department, as well as engravings and drawings by travellers and scholars of past centuries, the antiquities department said.

“An important contribution and innovation is the integration of multimedia media in the digital book, so as to provide the user with greater levels of interactivity, differentiating the classical structure of an electronic publication such as a digital PDF file,” the press release explained.

The digital book containing the four information points has integrated digital 3D models of each monument, prepared by the Cyprus University of Technology in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities. In addition, a short animation prepared by the Cyprus University of Technology has been incorporated.

According to the press release, there are plans to incorporate a digital tour of Kolossi castle, which has already been prepared by the Cyprus University of Technology, in the near future.

The digital ebook is available on the DigiArc website at www.digiarc.eu