Cristian Gazdac, Franz Humer, From Ruins to Living History in a Roman Metropolis on the Danube. The Archaeological Park Carnuntum – European Heritage Label Award

Located between Vienna and Bratislava, Carnuntum is by far the largest archaeological landscape in entire Central and South-Eastern Europe. Nearly the entire ancient Roman city once spanning 10 square kilometres is still preserved underneath the fields and vineyards of Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg. The Federal State of Lower Austria not only set new international scientific standards but it also designed a model in regards to land use planning and archaeological monument conservation how to shape future concepts destined to balance history, spatial planning and economy. In the interests of the public the archaeological heritage is also exploited more economically: by restoring old excavations, with new research excavations and partial or full reconstructions, which give visitors a better approach to ancient times; furthermore, by involving the public more closely when investigations can be observed “at close hand”, and the presentation of finds in museums and special exhibitions. To this end, new presentation techniques and multimedia systems are used to communicate this information, including mobile phone application for VR.