Visualization Research Meets Archaeology: Immersive Experience of UNESCO World Heritage Site

July 1, 2026; Christina Warren

On June 24, 2026, representatives of the National Museums of Perugia - Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria and the municipality of Campello sul Clitunno celebrated the inauguration of a new visitor center for the Temple of Clitumnus. The visitor center is designed to provide better access to the monument and a more complete experience — particularly for visitors with disabilities. This endeavor is supported by a VR software co-developed by our doctoral researcher Wilhelm Kerle-Malcharek (D04).

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, the Temple of Clitumnus (it: Tempietto sul Clitunno) is a small early medieval church located in Pissignano near Campello Sul Clitunno, Umbria, Italy. As one of seven sites that mark the presence of the Lombards in Italy, it holds plenty historical and cultural significance, which visitors can now explore interactively with two VR headsets in the new visitor center. The VR software lets users take an immersive tour through a highly detailed digital representation of the monument. It was developed by the Digitization Centre of Cultural and Environmental Heritage (CeDiPa) of the University of Perugia in collaboration with Wilhelm Kerle-Malcharek, who spent two months in Perugia earlier this year for his research stay abroad. During his stay, he joined the CeDiPa team for their digitisation process of the monument, which combined photogrammetry, laser scanning, and digital modeling workflows. 

The visitor center is now open to the public and located in the former power plant building a short distance from the Tempietto along Via Flaminia. Aside from the immersive VR experience, the center offers information panels, videos in LIS (Italian Sign Language), and a three-dimensional model of the site allowing tactile exploration.

News article about the opening of the visitor center by National Museums of Perugia – Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria (in Italian)