Acropolis of Athens: Recording, Modeling and Visualising a Major Archaeological Site

Abstract

This paper presents the project “Development of Geographic Information Systems at the Acropolis of Athens”, financed by the European Union and the Government of Greece. The Acropolis of Athens is one of the major archaeological sites world-wide included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The project started in June 2007 and finished in May 2009. The paper presents the project's aims and gives a description of the deliverables and the specifications, as well as the project difficulties. It was a complex project including a wide range of works, from classical geodetic and photogrammetric works to 3D modeling and GIS development. The main tasks of the project were the establishment of a polygonometric network, the production of DSM and orthophotomosaics of the top view of the hill and of the walls' facades, the terrestrial laser scanning and 3D modeling of the Acropolis rock, the walls and the Erehtheion, the development of a geospatial database and finally the development of GIS applications to access and manage the data.