Digital strategies for enhancing cultural heritage: the Villa del Casale of Piazza Armerina, from the late antique building site to the Museum Collection

The project represents a research case study of a wider, EU-funded initiative entitled ‘Virtual Technologies for Museums and Art Collections, which acts as a thematic spoke of the project CHANGES ‘Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Next-Gen Sustainable Society’ (https://sites.google.com/uniroma1.it/changes/, PNRR Mission 4). It focuses on the use of virtual technologies for the promotion, preservation, and enhancement of cultural heritage in Italian museums and art collections, exploring heritagization processes and conceptualizing digital cultural heritage as a network of interlinked relations among digital objects and their cultural environment. The project focuses on Palazzo Trigona Museum of Piazza Armerina in its relationship with the archaeological context of Villa del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. The creation of a web-based digital ecosystem intends to expand users’ perception of Piazza Armerina cultural heritage and provides them with a novel, updated and comprehensive understanding of its historical developments. The project adopts a multidisciplinary approach to enhance Museum exhibits and virtually access artifacts stored in the Villa’s storerooms, aiming at enriching visitors’ experiences and promoting cultural exchange.