Polytechnic University to Develop Digital Platform to Preserve Pskov’s Churches
Faculty and students at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University have begun digitizing ten churches dating from the 12th to the early 17th centuries.
The project aims to preserve monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage property “Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture” and organize data on their condition.
Under an agreement with the Research and Production Center for the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Pskov Region, a university team conducted a field expedition to Pskov. Researchers carried out on-site surveys and laser scans of the buildings. The resulting data will be used to create 3D digital models of the churches, update their security passports and assess risks.
The research findings will form the basis of graduation projects by students at the university’s Institute of Civil Engineering. These projects will include organized records on the monuments, risk maps and recommendations for updating their security passports.
Another part of the project involves developing a visual identity for the UNESCO property to raise its profile. Representatives of the Higher School of Design and Architecture studied Pskov’s tourist infrastructure and existing souvenir products.
The project involves the Pskov Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, the regional Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the management service for the UNESCO World Heritage property. A unified digital platform will make it possible to organize the monitoring of the architectural monuments’ condition.
