Accurate reconstruction of the Roman circus in Milan by georeferencing heterogeneous data sources with GIS

This paper presents the methodological approach and the actual workflow for creating the 3D digital reconstruction in time of the ancient Roman Circus of Milan, which is presently covered completely by the urban fabric of the modern city. The diachronic reconstruction is based on a proper mix of quantitative data originated by current 3D surveys and historical sources, such as ancient maps, drawings, archaeological reports, restrictions decrees, and old photographs. When possible, such heterogeneous sources have been georeferenced and stored in a GIS system. In this way the sources have been analyzed in depth, allowing the deduction of geometrical information not explicitly revealed by the material available. A reliable reconstruction of the area in different historical periods has been therefore hypothesized. This research has been carried on in the framework of the project Cultural Heritage Through Time—CHT2, funded by the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage (JPI-CH), supported by the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage (MiBACT), the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR), and the European Commission.