The Territorial Information System for Cultural Heritage of the national territory: the case study of the south-western area of Salento Peninsula

Cultural heritage sites are threatened by a variety of natural factors and anthropogenic activities. Innovative and cost effective tools for monitoring systems and CH sites are needed to protect them. Towards this direction, the paper outlines an approach for digitally recording cultural heritage sites. This approach involves the implementation of the Territorial Information System for the Cultural Heritage of the Italian territory (SIT - "Sistema Informativo territoriale per i Beni Culturali del territorio italiano") for further management and analysis. It is also for this reason that the SIT, with the primary purpose of high-level knowledge on documentation and management, is set up in such a way as to be functional to the protection and enhancement and, above all, to the planning of Public Authorities of territorial governance. The SIT is operational and tested in sample areas of central and southern Italy and is in continuous development in collaboration with research facilities (University and CNR) and tested in representative territorial areas such as the south-western sector of the Salento Peninsula, which is presented in this paper as a sample area.