The loan, requested by the Head of the UNESCO Conventions Area of the Sub-Directorate General for the Management and Coordination of Cultural Heritage of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, is for an important exhibition that will soon open at the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar (Croatia), on the occasion of the inauguration of its new headquarters in the Church of St. Nicholas in Zadar.
UNESCO is directly involved in the exhibition by arranging the transfer of audiovisual material and some replicas of artefacts from sites included in the Global Best Practices recognised under the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
The Bou Ferrer wreck at La Vila Joiosa, the largest ship of the High Roman Empire ever excavated, sunk in 67-68 on its voyage from Cadiz to Rome, and a key site in international underwater archaeology, was one of the first three sites in the world to be included in this new Register, thanks to the efforts of the Bou Ferrer project to share its scientific work with society, including through visits to Vilamuseu and underwater visits guided by the project's technicians.
Vilamuseu also has abundant audiovisual material and virtualisation of parts and the ship itself sailing, of extraordinary quality, produced respectively by José Antonio Moya, from the University of Alicante, and 3D Stoa Patrimonio y Tecnología, a company with which Vilamuseu jointly received the prestigious Silver Award from the International Association for Universal Design, in Tokyo in 2020, for their joint project to develop accessible 3D replicas.
On 23 May, the transport company collected the replicas made for the Ministry of Culture by 3D Stoa itself with the archives loaned by La Vila Joiosa Town Council through Vilamuseu: the 1/23 scale excavation trench (Playmobil scale), an Andalusian olive oil amphora from the ship's galley and a lead ingot with the imperial seals of Nero. The replicas were digitally perfected in Madrid, travelled to Vilamuseu and here a restorer provided by 3D Stoa gave them the surface finish to imitate that of the original pieces, keeping them in view.
