Gothicmed is a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

project carried out within the Culture 2000 (2000–2006) programme and headed by the Ministry of Culture of the regional government of Valencia, Spain. Although the producer for this project remains unknown, the European Union's funding exceeded 500.000 Euros. The project aims to gain further insight into

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

in the Mediterranean. In 2004, the

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (, the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important fi ...

(Spain) got involved with Gothicmed to create a virtual museum of Mediterranean Gothic architecture.

Mediterranean Gothic

This project's goal is to create a network of

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

and

dissemination To disseminate (from Latin, lat. ''disseminare'' "scattering seeds"), in the field of communication, is to broadcast a message to the public without direct feedback from the audience. Meaning Dissemination takes on the theory of the traditional ...

on Mediterranean

that will enable this

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

to be shared and spread. In the Mediterranean, stylistic features readily intertwine with its contemporary

mediaeval architecture Medieval architecture was the art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. In the fifteenth century, architects began to favour clas ...

in central and

northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

. However, the buildings are often quite distinct. Not surprisingly, the

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

architectural styles in the Mediterranean were built following traditions from the late

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

era. The ruined buildings from the

ancient world Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

scattered around the Mediterranean were the building manuals for whoever wanted to read them. The presence of an interesting Manual on Practical

Geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

, or ''Geometria fabrorum'', conveyed by

guilds A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

and

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s, characterises this episode in architectural history.

Virtual views

Visualising Panoramic views of Gothic monuments was one of the most challenging parts of the project, and it necessitated an exchange of experience between photographers of the different participating countries. Each of the project partners produced panoramic pictures that were installed in the virtual gallery of the site. A tour through a border-less,

virtual museum A virtual museum is a digital entity that draws on the characteristics of a museum, in order to complement, enhance, or augment the museum experience through personalization, interactivity, and richness of content. Virtual museums can perform as ...

can be made through the open halls, which correspond to each of the sponsors of the project: Valencia Region, Greece,

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and the initiatives promoted by the

. Images of the

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s can be accessed via each of these halls by a

virtual tour A virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos, still images or 360-degree images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, text and floor map. The phras ...

( panoramic images) or a guided tour (a text written by specialists, accompanied by layouts). Other sections include a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

and links with other related websites. Upload onto Internet novel images inserted into virtual views of the most prominent monuments in this architectural style. These virtual views have been created through panoramic photographs, picture galleries, and videos. Texts have also been written with other images and drawings by specialists in the field, and the scientific community will have access to specialized books and articles online. GOTHIC medicine cannot replace seeing and enjoying Mediterranean Gothic architecture first-hand, but it does encourage it to be visited and allow knowledge about it to be enhanced. All partners have been invited to produce wooden

scale models Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

of Gothic monuments or parts of monuments, like Gothic staircases, to be shown in the travelling exhibition, which has been the more time-consuming activity of the project since it has been necessary to join efforts of an interdisciplinary team of professionals. These models are at a scale of 1/50 and have been displayed on wooden pedestals. A total of 10 models travelled to each of the project's locations in the framework of the travelling exhibition in Valencia (ES), Évora (PT), Palermo (IT), Ljubljana (SI), and Athens (GR).{{Citation needed, date=July 2024

References

External links

Mediterranean Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture Virtual museums

Mediterranean Gothic

Virtual views

See also

References

External links