An event dedicated to “Underwater Archaeology” was held on Friday 15 September at 5.30 pm at the Baglio Florio of the Archaeological Park of Selinunte as part of the Erasmus+ Project U-MAR “Enhancing underwater archeology to make it an innovative tool for developing sustainable & creative tourism”, coordinated by the Phoenicians’ Route – Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. The event is aimed at presenting the results of the project and proposing a reflection on underwater archaeology and the opportunities that derive from it on a cultural and tourist level.
In addition to the Director of the Park, Felice Crescente, were also present the Director of the Phoenicians’ Route, Antonio Barone, Jon Albers, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Ruhr-University of Bochum (Germany) (who talked about ports and docks in the ancient Mediterranean), the underwater archaeologist Fabio Amato of the Archaeological Groups of Italy, and the Councillor of the Archaeological Park of Agrigento (who talked about underwater archaeology as a tool for promoting territories).
An unreleased video with an interview with the professor Sebastiano Tusa has also been presented.
Among the partners of the U-MAR project, in addition to the Phoenicians’ Route, the Superintendency of the Sea of the Sicilian Region, the International Centre of Underwater Archaeology of Zadar (Croatia), the Consortium CEIMAR of Cádiz (Spain), the Pafos Tourism Board (Cyprus), the Madeira Chamber of Commerce (Portugal) and Argo consultancy company (Italy).
The project will end in January 2024 and aims at creating new professional figures operating in the valorisation of underwater heritage, developing an educational platform for the delivery of professional paths, and defining models of Interpretation Centres for underwater archaeological heritage.
The event also included the presentation of the publication “THE GREEKS OF SICILY THE CITIES” by prof. Giovanni Di Stefano (University of Calabria and University Tor Vergata of Rome) with photographs of the monumental heritage and landscape of Luigi Nifosì, published by Abulafia for the BAPR Library – Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa. The author, Prof. Massimo Cultraro, CNR and University of Palermo, Carmelo Arezzo, President of the Cesare and Doris Zipelli Foundation led the presentation.
