The Invisible Heritage and the Challenge of its Valorisation The UnderwaterMuse Project

The Adriatic sea is dotted with wrecks and its coasts are scattered by a lot of underwater sites. Some of these are well studied, of others only the coordinates are known. The UnderwaterMuse Project focuses on some of these, in order not only to increase knowledge, but above all to make them visitable by as many people and different ways as possible, always paying the utmost attention to their integrity. The project aims at applying on sample areas (maritime landscapes of Torre Santa Sabina, Grado, Resnik/Siculi, and Venice lagoon) a methodological and technological protocol based on research, knowledge and development, and communication of underwater archeological sites that is complex, multi-stratified and characterized by strong diversity. The project’s objective is there fore to transform the site into an underwater archaeological park (or eco-museum) through innovative and/or experimental methodologies and techniques in order to reduce the loss of important cultural heritages as well as to guarantee an economic spin-off deriving directly from the creation of a sector linked to the tourist-cultural promo tion of the context of reference. Training diving guides will improve the immersive experience of underwater sites. Based on the experience gained, the GIS tool, the ‘UnderwaterMuse MAP’ for underwater sites with accessibility standards, will be developed and promoted at transnational, national and local level, in the Adriatic and beyond.