The Driving Role of 3D Geovisualization in the Reanimation of Local Collective Memory and Historical Sources for the Reconstitution of Rural Landscapes

Abstract

The dynamics created by the process of territorial construction are partly based on the selective and functional incorporation of heritage. However, in rural areas, retrospection presents particular difficulties due to a lack of appropriate information. Τhis research proposes the implementation of a methodology that combines sources, methods, and tools where the extraction of timeless information is based on the use of 3D interactive representations incorporating the active participation of actors and their collective memory. The proposed methodology strives for the compatibility, objectivity, and synergy of information from various sources and historical periods. The scope of this research concerns the mapping of the route and landscapes that were explored and described by the traveller Leake 210 years ago in the Farsala-Almyros area in Thessaly (Greece). The results focus on the reconstruction of the spatial subsystems of land use and exploitation at the beginning of the 19th century. The analysis reveals a production system, organized to use the laws of nature in order to sustainably manage the relationship between humans, animals, and natural resources. At the same time, the comparison with the current space has revealed a serious degradation in the natural environment since then. Finally, this mixed methodology, by combining the “spatialization” of information, virtuality and interactivity, the transition in time and space, and, finally, the “territorialization” of information, forms the basis for the inclusion of the history of places in the modern process of constructing a territorial area.