Byzantine Heritage Network: Rehabilitation, highlighting and management in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin.
The mission of the project ByHeriNet is to establish a well-grounded network, under the acronym “ByHeriNet”, addressed to cultural highlighting, integrated enjoyment and management of these landscapes in which the byzantine heritage, found a real and important resource. The cultural, archaeological and architectural heritage referred to the byzantine world is one of the most interesting aspects of identity for countries which face the east side of the Mediterranean Basin. Important churches, monasteries and settlements as a whole characterize the landscape of south Italy as fair as Greece, and Cyprus and are already, but one by one, touristic or/and religious pilgrimage destinations. The points of criticism which set up the potentiality of this project are a non-homogeneous and fragmentary knowledge for this heritage as well as a lack of strategic tools for an integrated and global enjoyment of landscapes. The basic principles are the cooperation relationships and the exchange of knowledge and experiences between all the partners involved in this project, aimed to reinforce the common identity of all countries and to produce expected qualitative and quantitative results. Main objectives: • Cooperation aiming towards the safeguarding and utilization of the Byzantine cultural heritage • Determination of a common strategy for utilizing the cultural landscapes in the framework of integrated strategies of spatial development • Awareness as far as the byzantine cultural heritage is concern Main activities: • Definition, analysis and project of cultural itineraries aimed to highlighting the byzantine cultural heritage through all the countries. • Pilot projects aimed to development of on-line and off-line platforms for distance enjoyment of monuments and site characterized by difficult conditions of accessibility and enjoyment, through tools and systems of the Information Society. • Information activity for the divulgation of deliverables and outputs of the project. • Training activity aimed to provide skills in the field of knowledge and dissemination byzantine cultural heritage. Results, outputs and deliverables: • Feasibility projects for the development of Byzantine cultural itineraries; • Documentation Centre of Byzantine Heritage in the Museum of Byzantine Civilization, in the abbey of Santa Maria di Cerrate (lLecce) • Inventories and GIS; • Web Portal • international agreements and protocols for the carrying out of best practices; • on-line and off-line platforms for distance enjoyment; • certificate of skills aimed at implementation of employment in the field of cultural tourism. Direct beneficiaries are local administrations, superintendances, inhabitants of the involved areas, Non profit structures with cultural objectives, Businesses and professionals, Public and Private Organizations, Scientific Organizations.