Archaeological Sites and Local Renaissance: Enlightening Italy’s Inner Rural Areas – The Case Study of the 21 Villages in the Madonie Park, Sicily

Luisa Lombardo – Department of Architecture, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Bld. 8-14, 90128, Palermo, Italy

Abstract: In Italian inner rural areas, archaeology emerges as the thread that connects past and present, revealing the cultural and historical roots of often overlooked small villages. These settlements, like the Madonie District and its 21 villages, nestled in picturesque landscapes, hold archaeological treasures that, if properly rehabilitated and valorized, can trigger a social, economic, and cultural revival. Archaeology can play a pivotal role in reigniting the vi­tality of these communities with the contribution of technological innovation. Using augmented and virtual reality and emerging technologies, it is possible to immerse oneself in antiquity and have immersive experiences that allow the perception of inner rural areas history in new ways that revitalize existing sites but also enable the experience of what no longer exists, digitally recon­structing structures and realities lost over the centuries. This can attract visi­tors eager to uncover the authentic charm and intrinsic history of these places and can transform them into smart villages.

7th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2023 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varaždin, University of Zagreb, Croatia), October 26, 2023

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2023 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-75-2, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2023

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission.

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