A WEB BASED GIS FOR THE BYZANTINE CHURCHES OF CYPRUS

A. Agapiou a, A. Georgopoulos a, M. Ioannides b, C. Ioannidis a

a
Laboratory of Photogrammetry, School of Rural & Surveying Engineering, NTUA, Greece – drag@central.ntua.gr,
cioannid@survey.ntua.gr
b
Cyprus Institute, Cyprus – gammat@cytanet.com.cy

KEY WORDS: Geometric recording, Cultural heritage, Web-based GIS, Google Earth, 3D modelling, Visualisation

ABSTRACT:

This paper describes the design of a Monument Information Database and its implementation in a web based environment. The
object concerns the ten painted Byzantine Churches of Cyprus, located in Troodos Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage List item.
For the purposes of a larger inter-state project between Greece and Cyprus under the name of APHRODITE, as much information as
possible was collected for the ten churches. This wealth of data has been organized in a database, in such a way to enable access of
this information also from within web applications, such as e.g. Google Earth. This Monument Information System (MIS) has been
developed to provide a wealth of qualitative and quantitative information to the user. The system caters for the collection, archiving,
processing, management of any kind of information and virtual touring using multimedia technology. The 3D models of the
churches have been constructed using the Google Sketch-Up utility, with the help of some elementary measurements in situ. The 3D
models were uploaded to the official site of Google 3D Warehouse – Models. The user can find the monuments by just searching
using appropriate key–words where one can read some main characteristics of the monument. For further information the user may
click at the link for the web site that is currently developed for this purpose. Moreover, the user has also the possibility to virtually
fly over the area of interest based on suitably draped satellite images. The monuments are accurately georeferenced and appear in
their exact position.

1. INTRODUCTION
The geometric documentation of a monument is defined as the
action of acquiring, processing, presenting and recording the
necessary data for the determination of the position and the
actual existing form, shape and size of the monument in the
three dimensional space at a particular given moment in time.
Geometric documentation should be considered as an integral
part of a greater action, the General Documentation of the
Cultural Heritage. This comprises, among others, the historical
documentation, the architectural documentation, the
bibliographic documentation etc. All this wealth of information
is usually stored, i.e. archived, in many forms. In the previous
years analogue forms of archiving were employed, such as
special monument cards. However this practice, although
complete in its way, did not ensure the storing of the
interrelations of the information and did not relate the
information to the position of the monument. Today, not only
the use of digital relational databases but also the role of
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the field of Cultural
Heritage is recognized as important in conservation, protection,
analysis, development and management of archaeological sites
and monuments (Ioannidis et al, 2004). The compilation of
specialized GIS in order to accommodate all pieces of
information related to a monument led to an electronic form of
Monument Archives, the Monument Information Systems
(MIS).
Contemporary techniques and methods of Information Science,
Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality and Multimedia
Technology are developed and integrated in order to record,
represent and protect Cultural Heritage. Geometrically correct
3D reconstructions have lately become feasible by the
integration of laser scanner and photogrammetric data. These
geo-referenced products may become available within a web
portal to those interested (students, researchers, scientists,
tourists). The role of the Internet for the knowledge and sharing
of multi-dimensional data is fundamental. Web GIS is the
perfect way to share geographical information, allowing the
user to view raster and vector information in overlay, to load
and unload, query, compare data in a simple way, through a
browser. Three dimensional geographical data inside 3D
environments (3D WebGIS) or web-based 3D reconstruction of
cultural heritage objects and artifacts (Vergauwen and van
Gool, 2006) and 4D GIS with the additional time-component
dimension strictly connected to archaeological and historical
data (e.g., TimeMap® software - http://www.timemap.net;
Hosse and Schilcher, 2003) can be managed by using more
sophisticated procedures.
During the last years the development of software for the
management and presentation of geo-data has been rapidly
increased. It is mentioned that there are more than 550 pieces of
software available for terrain visualization
(http://www.tec.army.mil/TD/tvd/survey/survey_toc.html) and
a variety of software (ArcGIS/ArcView®, VirtualGIS®,
Skyline®, TerrainView®, Maya® etc) for visualization and 3D
GIS. Also, the 3D Engines, which is specific software that
combines earth 3D model, images and vector data, is used for
an ever increasing range of applications, among them cultural
heritage management. These systems are freely distributed and
include data from various space agencies (e.g., EuroImage,
DigitalGlobe, NASA, WorldSAT etc), a 3D (which in reality is
a 2.5D) or a 2D viewer and streaming technology. Some
examples are:
− Google Earth®, a 3D viewer with Quickbird high resolution
satellite images in some areas and 3D city models of some
cities
− NASA Wind® (http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/), a 3D
viewer of the NASA Blue Marble and Landsat data, terrain
 model from SRTM mission and high resolution satellite
images over USA
− EarthSLOT Web Interface® (http://eslot.engr.uaf.edu:8181/
eslot_web_interface.html), a 3D viewer of the NASA
monthly data using Skyline 3D engine
− VirtualEarth®, a 2D viewer with satellite data and aerial
images over USA
− GeoFusion®, Yawaha®, etc.
Most of these systems provide additional low cost commercial
tools, like Google Earth Pro® and Google SketchUp Pro®,
ArcGlobe® of ESRI, TerrainGlobe® of Viewtec, etc, where the
user can import his own data, such as 3D models, vector layers
and descriptive information.
The use of open source software in cultural heritage
management, in particular for non profit organisations and
research centres, gives public access to a wide community of
users to spatial cultural data. Several applications of open
source web GIS are mentioned in international literature, such
as the Appia Antica Project (http://www.appia.itabc.cnr.it) for
the creation of a 3D spatial archive of the monuments of a wide
archaeological park in Rome, through intense mapping, GIS
and modelling activities (Pescarin et al, 2005), using
MapServer® software (http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu) and
OpenSceneGraph (http://www.openscenegraph.org).
In this paper the process for the production of 3D reconstruction
of historic monuments and their integration with the necessary
attributes (historic information, images, etc.) in the web is
described. The proper methodology for easy creation and
presentation of 3D models, using Google Earth Pro and Google
SketchUp software is developed. An application is made for the
Painted Byzantine Churches of Troodos Mountain in Cyprus,
which are included to the UNESCO list of World Heritage
Monuments.
2. THE PROJECT “APHRODITE”
National Technical University of Athens and the Higher
Technological Institute of Cyprus undertook an inter-state
research project between Greece and Cyprus, which has been
jointly financed by the General Secretariat of Research and
Technology of Greece and the Research Promotion Foundation
of Cyprus. The objectives of this project, code named
“Aphrodite”, were the design of a Monument Information
System (MIS) and its implementation in a web-based
environment, for the 3D accurate reconstruction, using
contemporary geodetic measurements, photogrammetric
procedures and terrestrial laser scanners, documentation and
archiving of historical monuments.
An application of the method was made for Painted Byzantine
Churches of Troodos Mountain in Cyprus (Figure 1), which are
dated from the 11th to 14th century AD. The region of
Mountain Troodos is characterized by one of the largest groups
of churches and monasteries of the former Byzantine Empire.
The complex of 10 monuments, which all are richly decorated
with murals, provides an overview of Byzantine and post-
Byzantine painting (frescoes religious painting) in Cyprus.
They range from small churches, such as the Church of Virgin
Mary in Asinou, whose rural architectural style is in stark
contrast to their highly refined decoration, to monasteries as St
John Lampadistis (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/351/). These
churches, unique monuments of Byzantine architecture and
religious art, were inscribed to the UNESCO list of World
Heritage Monuments since 1985. UNESCO’s criteria were both
the architecture, the landscape design but also the fact that these
monuments are “exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition”.
These ten churches are:
− Church of Ayios Nikolaos tis Steyis at Kakopetria
− Ayios Ionannis Lambadhistis Monastery at Kalopanayiotis
− Church of Panayia Phorviotissa (Asinou) at Nikitari
− Church of Panayia tou Arakou at Lagoudhera
− Church of Panayia at Moutoullas
− Church of Archangelos Michael at Pedhoulas
− Church of Timios Stavros at Pelendria
− Church of Panayia Podhithou at Galata
− Church of Stavros Ayiasmati at Platanistasa
− Church of Ayia Sotira of the Transfiguration of the Savior,
“tou Soteros”, at Palaichori (this church was included to the
UNESCO list in 2001).
Figure 1: The region of Mountain Troodos in Cyprus, where
the complex of 10 churches which are included in the
UNESCO list of World Heritage Monuments
3. METHODOLOGY
First an accurate three dimensional digital reconstruction of the
Painted Churches (buildings and surrounding area) at a large
scale and their virtual tour and guidance in a multimedia
environment is made. For the exact three dimensional
reconstruction contemporary photogrammetric and terrestrial
laser scanning techniques are employed, combined with virtual
reality methods and multimedia techniques. The system under
development is based on and contains a multitude of innovative
research procedures in the field of three dimensional
reconstructions, in the field of virtual and graphic
representation and also in the field of personalized and adapted
guidance and navigation.
Initially classical and standard database software was employed
for the creation of the information system, namely MS Access.
A suitable entity-relation table (Figure 2) was developed in
order to interrelate the various pieces of information for each
monument. Moreover a user friendly interface was designed in
order to enable data entry to the data base (Figure 3). The data
base was design to contain all possible pieces of information
related to a monument as described above. A suitable interface
for operation of the whole data base as a web application eas
also designed. However this was considered as quite heavy to
expose to the web due to the large size of the files necessary to
operate.
4. IMPLEMENTATION
A Monument Information System (MIS), which allows both
collection and storage of any data related to the monuments,
was created. This MIS combines spatial and non-spatial
information. Spatial characteristics can easily be extracted from
MIS, either from the 3D photorealistic visualization of the area
or even from the 3D coordinates of the Byzantine churches.
Non-spatial information is related to each monument through
tables of attributes (Figure 4). Through these tables any kind of
information, such as historical, architecture, information about
opening hours, web sites related to churches etc. (Figure 5).

Figure 2: The E-R table of the MIS

Figure 4: Attribute table of the monuments

Figure 3: MS Access database interface

Then a Monument Information System was developed in order

to be easily exposed to the web, while at the same time able to
provide a wealth of qualitative and quantitative information.
The system caters for the collection, archiving, processing,
management of any kind of information and virtual touring
using multimedia technology. The user also has the possibility
to virtually fly over the area of interest based on suitably draped
satellite images. The monuments are accurately georeferenced
and appear in their exact position.

Among the alternative options, for 3D modeling over the web,

provided by the available free or commercial software, the use
of Google SkethUp was selected. This software based on the
freely distributed and extremely popular Google Earth
environment and has been used successfully with a number of
archaeological applications (see http://www.gisarch.com/
category/sketchup/ for applications like “Archaeology and 3D
model of Areca Mill”, “Archaeology viz with Picasa, Google
Earth and SkethUp”, “Egypt archaeology in Google Earth”,
etc). The commercial tool Google SkethUp Pro 6 provides not
only the standard facilities of free tool Google SkethUp to
create, export and present 3D models, but also the capability for
rendering and exporting the models into CAD (or using various
formats, e.g., dxf, 3ds, obj, xsi, fbx, eps, pdf, vrml, kmz) as
well.

The system may operate either autonomously or in the web

through the Google Earth environment. In this way the result is Figure 5: Spatial and non-spatial information as displayed in the
a unique product of virtual realism for the visualization of same time at the MIS, like photographs or web sites (such as
cultural heritage objects, while at the same time it is able to UNESCO offical web site for the Painted Churches in the
provide virtual touring services adapted to the users’ needs. Troodos Region etc.)
The interface designed for the operation and interaction with size had to remain low (i.e. lower than 10 Mb) for the real time
the data base of the MIS enables the user to search through the rendering on the web to be feasible.
stored information via various channels: Either by the name of
the monument, or by pinpointing its location on a map, or by
entering suitable key words etc (Figure 6).

Figure 6: The MIS interface

The next step was to provide the user with 3D information, i.e.
provide the user with the opportunity to visualize the monument
in 3D. This implies that such information is available, either
through a rigorous procedure for 3D metric data acquisition
employing accurate methods, such as surveying measurements,
photogrammetric methodology or terrestrial laser scanning
(Sophocleous et al. 2006), or using approximate methods
employing mainly measurement of the basic dimensions of the
monument. This latter method was used in conjunction with the
Google SketchUp® software, freely available, to produce the 3D Figure 8 (a & b): Rendered model in Google SketchUp®
visualizations, until a more accurate methodology was
employed for this purpose. These “light” models were initially georeferenced using Google
Earth. Finally the model was design and modified according to
The churches were sketched up using both simple its physical terrain, which was imported from Google Earth to
®
photogrammetric procedures (like rectification) of each plane of Google SketchUp (Figure 9).
a monument and measurements. The 3D wire frame result was a
combination of lines, arcs, rectangles and circles (Figure 7).
The design was made only for the outside facades of the
churches and they were also shaded using the software’s tools
(Figure 8, a & b).

Figure 9: The 3D model with the terrain

These models were then exported to Google Earth (Figure 10).

The user has the possibility to fly over the area of each
monument and can see the 3D models of the churches, in real
Figure 7: Wireframe sketch in Google SketchUp®
time. Furthermore the user may be briefly informed about the
history, the architecture of the monument and even take 3D
The texture of each church was extracted from recently taken
measurements of the monument.
photographs. Some main characteristics of each church
(wooden doors, arches, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage
The 3D models (in Kmz code for viewing in Goolge Earth and
label) were specially photographed, in order to achieve a more
as SkethUp model) were uploaded to the official site of Google
realistic result. For the rest of the church’s patterns, either
3D Warehouse – Models (http://sketchup.google.com/
“sample material” was used or the whole facades or in some
3dwarehouse). The user can find the monuments by just
cases both. At this stage it should be reminded that the model’s
searching using key – words (e.g. churches of Cyprus) where
one can read some main characteristics of the monument. For Ioannidis, C., Georgopoulos A., Potsiou, C. 2004. Spatial
further information the user may click at the link for the web Information System: A need for integrated Monument’s
site that is currently being developed for this purpose. Documentation. In: Proceedings of FIG Working Week 2004 –
Archaeological Workshop, Athens, Greece.
http://www.fig.net/pub/athens/programme.htm.

Pescarin, S., Forte, M., Calori, L., Camporesi, C., Guidazzoli,

A., Imboden, S., 2005. Open Heritage: an Open Source
approach to 3d real-time and web-based landscape
reconstruction. In: Proceedings of VSMM Virtual Reality at
Work in the 21th Century, Belgium.
http://3d.cineca.it/3d/pubblicazioni/2005/paper_pescarin_forte_
calori.pdf (accessed 30 Jun. 2008).

Figure 10: The 3D model of a church exported in Google
Earth®
Moreover the models can be found in Google Maps, a service
of Google Company where someone can track the monuments
through car tracking systems (with Google Map software
provided), smartphones and generally for most web-enabled
mobile phones. From such devices a user can sideload and
synchronize (dynamically) the data through Google Maps. It is
estimated that for the production of a “light” model
approximately two hours are necessary, provided there are
enough and suitable images of the church.
Hosse, K., Schilcher, M., 2003. Temporal GIS for analysis and
visualization of cultural heritage. In: The International Archives
of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial
Information Sciences, Antalya, Turkey, Vol. XXXIV-5/C15,
pp. 40-45.
Sophocleous E., Georgopoulos, A., Ioannides, M., Ioannidis,
Ch., 2006. The Geometric Documentation of the Asinou
Church. VAST 2006, Lefkosia.
Vergauwen, M., van Gool, L., 2006. Web-based 3D
reconstruction service. Machine Vision and Applications
(2006)17: 411-426.

5. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper both simple and more complex methods of

designing a Monument Information System for managing
Cultural heritage objects have been presented. 3D modeling,
accurate documentation using terrestrial laser scanning and
photogrammetric procedure, “light” models from free software
and an application at a Monument Information System have
also been considered for inclusion in the MIS, bearing in mind
simplicity for running the application over the web.

These data can be exploited either autonomously or in real time

on the web. Such technologies are now getting even more
popular. The exploitation of 3D visualization of multi-source
data has shortened the distance between reality and “virtuality”,
it has enabled virtual 3D measurements and augmented reality
through animation, integrating as much information as possible
for the benefit of the final product.

The final product can have may uses from virtual realism for
the visualization of cultural heritage objects, virtual touring
services adapted to the users’ needs, for education purpose and
many more. However it remains an invaluable tool in the hands
of researchers, curators and everybody interested in Cultural
Heritage.

REFERENCES

Agapiou, A., Doulamis, N., Georgopoulos, A., Ioannides, M.,

Ioannidis, C., 2008. Three-dimensional reconstruction for
Cultural Heritage visualization - Application to the Byzantine
Churches of Cyprus. In: Proceedings of CAA2008, Budapest.