ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΗ ΕΡΕΥΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΝΕΕΣ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΕΣ: ΠΡΟΒΛΗΜΑΤΙΣΜΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΜΕ ΑΦΟΡΜΗ ΤΗΝ ΤΡΙΣΔΙΑ­ΣΤΑΤΗ ΑΠΟΤΥΠΩΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΥΡΓΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΥΠΟΛΗΣ

Abstract

The advancement of digital technologies has offered new tools to historians in their effort to convey to a wider public their understanding of the past. In cinema, many professional historians have contributed to bringing realistic depictions of past worlds. Today, videogames are an equally important medium where historians can bring a more realistic, and therefore, more attractive for a –usually younger– audience, gameplay. The role of the historian in the development of digital applications, such as videogames and mostly Role-Playing Games (RPG), focuses on the constant need for closer collaboration between historians and developers, and, eventually, a better mode of mutual understanding. Historians are thus involved in a process that can be described in three phases: the creative, during which the main concept is formulated; the research phase, when the historical information is gathered; and the aesthetic phase, where the historians help depict the built environment and the cultural features. These reflections have been the main focus of the project «Digital Routes in Greek History’s Paths» (RoGH) implemented by the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation with the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the University of Athens, and Content Management in Cul­ture (COMIC). RoGH’s main initiative is the development of a digital platform allowing anyone to visit the history of Greece from antiquity to modern times. This paper focuses on the case study of the tower of Ouranoupolis in Chalkidiki, which has been recreated in 3D. The tower is an important landmark at the entrance of Mount Athos and has been the main edifice of the dependency of Vatopediou monastery from the Byzantine era until the 20th century. Today it hosts the local museum.