A mobile application for the enhancement of POIs in Calabria

Cultural heritage is a collection of works, monuments, buildings, and traditions belonging to the territory that generated it: this represents the wealth of a country both from a cultural and an economic point of view. Preserving and understanding the cultural heritage is of prior importance to discover and analyse findings of historical interest worldwide. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is largely used for the enhancement of archaeological heritage, to provide the visitor with specific and complete information about tangible culture. This work is a contribution in this direction: it aims at disseminating information about a territory, Calabria, famous for being one of the regions belonging to Magna Graecia and rich in archaeological heritage. Specifically, it presents a project proposal that uses ICT technologies and augmented reality in the domain of cultural heritage, to promote new keys of reading and knowledge of the territory so that providing the visitor with specific and complete information about tangible culture. It describes a mobile application for the enhancement of points of interest (POIs) in Calabria. More specifically, the project at the present involves the archaeological park of Castiglione di Paludi and the Archaeological Park of Sibari. Castiglione di Paludi, located in the municipality of Paludi in the province of Cosenza, is one of the most important archaeological sites for extension and finds belonging to the Brettia era. Sibari, established about in 720 BC, is the first colony founded by the colonizing movement of the Achaeans. It is located in Cassano allo Ionio, is one of the richest and most important Greek cities of Magna Graecia and shows the overlap of three urban plants dating back to different historical periods.