Il progetto VisualVersilia: un esempio di applicazione della tecnologia GIS open source per la ricostruzione storica del territorio

VisualVersilia (www.visualversilia.com) is a research project based on a WebGIS developed for mapping, surveying and visualising cultural sites of Versilia. It is aimed at providing useful information for knowledge, protection and enhancement of the cultural and environmental heritage. This WebGIS is a digital platform, available online, for viewing and managing data relative to historic and cultural heritage in Versilia, through their localisation on an interactive map where there are several informative layers. Inside the project there is a particular informative layer, which, in its turn, is divided into sublayers where Versilia’s geography and infrastructures have been reconstructed, with the aim of contextualizing the cultural sites in the geographical space according to the time which they belong to. These reconstructions are obtained by the comparison and analysis of documents and through the study of historical maps relative to manifold periods. During the thesis writing, the reconstructions of geography dated back to XV-XVI, XVIII and XIX centuries have been created. Maps have been digitalized and then georeferenced through open source software QGIS, which allows the creation of vectors to represent the fundamental geographical features of the territory. Thus, the data on GIS have been developed to be displayed on the web. The final outcome produces significant results in cultural and environmental heritage conservation and its promotion.