Protection and Highlighting of a Waterfront Zone Disposing Strong Cultural Characteristics

Abstract

The scope of this intervention is to present a project concerning the protection and the functional and aesthetic upgrade of a coastal zone which lies at the tip of the Argolic gulf in the Eastern Peloponnese. The coastal zone connecting two very well-known historic cities Nafplio and Nea Kios runs for approximately 14 km and it disposes some interesting features. It constitutes an important seaside wetland which concentrates rare flora and fauna species, mainly avifauna, having a particular financial importance for the production cycle of food, as well as for the broader balance of the region’s ecology. Important historic and archaeological sites which can and should be highlighted lie in immediate vicinity to that part of the coastal zone, as well as historic rivers which flow into the Argolic gulf, all of which offer the occasion to take a cultural route in the outdoors as it combines elements having environmental, historic and regional value. The protection and highlighting of this zone will contribute on one hand to the sensitization of the local population in matters of cultural heritage and environmental protection, and on the other to the reinforcement of cultural tourism. The study was interdisciplinary, as it required historical and archaeological documentation of the intervention site and had to address urban and development issues, issues of protection of historic sites, natural environment and landscape, architectural issues and issues pertaining to electrical installations, big data and digital enhancement issues and, of course, specialized wetland protection issues.