The Centre of Archaeology and the Cyprus Institute have received funding to create an Excellence Hub.

The project entitled “Invisible Heritage: Analysis and Technology” (IH-AT) was funded by the RESTART 2016-2020 programme of the Research Promotion Foundation.

The IH-AT project aims to design and develop an innovative portal comprised of reliable and efficient technology-ready tools for the visualization, documentation and analysis of the UNESCO listed churches in the Troodos area of Cyprus. The project aims at applying Non-Destructive-Techniques (NDT), geophysics, 3D modelling and visualization methods, supported by art-historical and archaeological research, to investigate a cluster of selected churches. The main aims are to preserve by way of record the existing structural remains and to identify lost and invisible features as well as assess the conservation conditions of their structures. The portal will be exploited by a variety of stakeholders and is targeted to multiple economical actors such as public authorities, universities and individuals.

The project, starting in October 2019, will draw upon art-historical and archaeological approaches, applying novel technologies in order to create 3D models and interactive visualizations of both above and below ground feature. The framework programme RESTART 2016-2020 for Research, Technological Development and Innovation is co-funded by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund.