Ινστιτούτο Μεσογειακών Σπουδών

A GIS Based Application for the Management of Monuments and Antiquities of Cyprus

This paper discusses the implementation of an integrated CHM/GIS system that is used for the efficient manipulation of information regarding the ancient monuments and movable antiquities of Cyprus aimed towards the protection of the Cypriot cultural heritage. The archaeologists access the system through a client application, developed using Microsoft.net framework. ESRI technologies were fully integrated into the Windows form application using Arc Engine/Arc Objects, thus achieving a seamless and intuitive incorporation of the archaeological data and its metadata with the spatial data of the system stored as separate databases on Microsoft SQL Servers. The client application has a full feature set accessible accordingly after authentication and authorization of users, based on predefined permission levels. The client application also serves as a central repository and allows for the management of supplemental assets such as various image formats, AutoCAD files, etc. Within the environment, users have access to spatial data features including local plots “of interest”, underlying cadastral data based on Cassini or LTM models, archaeological data outlined as Ancient Monuments of First and Second Schedule, Controlled Areas, Areas under Temporary Requisition, Survey Areas, Movable Antiquities, and supplemental feature sets, some of which are editable, such as a “GPS” layer for points resulting from a surface survey. A key feature is the live communication via web services with the Department of Lands and Surveys (DLS), providing access to current spatial data including administrative units, plot outlines, orthophotographic and geomorphological features. An additional feature of the client application is the ability to synchronize and identify changes between the local cadastral spatial data (“tagged” plots) with the DLS cadastral spatial data as it is subjected to frequent changes.

  • Απόστολος Σαρρής
  • Άγγελος Χλιαουτάκης
  • Άρης Κυδωνάκης