The project of the Institute of History of the University of Montenegro, the Virtual Museum of the Cultural and Historical Heritage of the Skadar Lake Basin - VIRTUS, won first place in the field of humanities at the competition for the awarding of grants for scientific research projects of the Ministry of Science, announced the UCG.
"The guiding idea of the VIRTUS project is to create an extensive, easily accessible and precise digital platform for the presentation, promotion and valorization of the rich cultural and historical heritage of the Skadar Lake basin. Bearing in mind that this area represents the backbone of historical and social influences that shaped the Montenegrin identity, and knowing that at the moment there is no similar platform, a multidisciplinary team led by researchers from the Historical Institute of the University of Montenegro addressed this issue through the creation of a thematic virtual museum - a digital repository of documents, manuscripts, books, graphic, audio and visual material, 3D models and others auxiliary documentary data of importance," explained the University.
The research and development segment will, they say, consist of field work and work on the processing of historical sources located in relevant institutions, libraries and special collections, then in video and photo documentation of the current state of goods, digitization and 3D modeling of important localities, monuments and of subjects, with the aim of creating a database that is necessary for creating an accessible online repository.
"Furthermore, the aforementioned collected documentation will be used for the formation of thematic cultural routes in this area, chosen in accordance with the historical, geographical or cultural context: Routes of Antiquity; Time of Dynasties - Medieval Period; Ottoman and Oriental-Islamic presence; Creation of an independent Montenegrin state, Events in the XNUMXth century, Social, economic and intangible heritage."
The partners of the Historical Institute on the project are the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe, Vienna, Austria, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Turkey and the Regional Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Shkodra, Albania, and the head of the entire project is the director of the Institute, Dr. Radoslav Raspopović.
"Lake Skadar, one of the most attractive areas in the Balkans, is often the subject of scientific and development projects. Rich and unique biodiversity, numerous natural beauties, tourist potential, as well as diverse cultural and historical heritage, are just some of the reasons why this very lake is the subject of interests of researchers from various fields. It was declared a National Park in 1982, and therefore legally protected. Since then, it has been constantly in the focus of academic study. When it comes to the research of cultural and historical treasures, work has been done on the examination, protection and valorization of the belonging categories, and it are actually the foundations and foundations of today's historiographical, architectural and economic knowledge of this area," the University of Montenegro states.
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