Digital Archives and Study of Historical Towns

The basic aim of this work is to create a multimedia data- base (an electronic-graphical system containing dimensional, qualitative and graphical data) and to make data available on the Internet as their representation evolves. Thanks to the utilisation of state-of-the-art technology, the Net has the potential to involve public and private bodies in the acquisition, definition and management of territorial information systems regarding the cultural and environmental heritage; this involvement is a pre-condition for the protection and promotion of this heritage. The work presented here takes as its starting point a natural geographical datum: the Adriatic coast. This long coast touches several different regions; it shows different morphological features and different harbour and landing types; it is connected with different histories; the local heritage is rooted in different hinterlands endowed with different cultural and settlement characteristics. The theme of the work is thus on the one hand the study of harbour towns and the identification of the system of historical architectures that represented the physical place that connected historical town and harbour area, and on the other the survey of the structures and services that link the sea to the town and the hinterland. It is in fact an investigation directed at understanding some significant aspects of the relationships among town, sea and surrounding areas. This survey can in turn help plan future interventions of protection as well as the re-definition of a role for these towns that in many ways is no longer apparent.