Archeomatica - Ten years of digital documentation in Asia Minor

The Built Heritage always tells the story of the human actions that conceived, constructed, altered, transformed, used, or even demolished it, whether in proper or improper ways. In the brief moment when we encounter a monument, a ruin, or an archaeological site, we perceive the resonance of those intentions and events that have succeeded one another over time in that very place. This is a phenomenon of superimpositions and integrations that has taken shape through an extended temporal process, defined by human choices and natural occurrences, leading to the appearance that these architectures present today. This appearance is itself destined to evolve further. The ability to read and interpret what emerges before our eyes is a complex operation, requiring rigorous preparation, specific skills, and a refined capacity for intuition. Over the past ten years, a sustained effort to promote educational activities dedicated to architecture in its most intricate historical forms, carried out with students (mainly in architectural training), colleagues, and collaborators, has, through both personal circumstances and fortuitous events, led to the collection of a series of experiences in Asia Minor, in contemporary Turkey. These experiences have been grounded in seminars conducted in places of exceptional value and fascination, consistently combining documentation and knowledge acquisition with surveying practices, contemporary technologies, and the active transmission to participants of new abilities in representation, thinking, abstraction, comprehension, invention, and design. All of this has been achieved through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches, often within limited timeframes, but it is hoped that with meaningful outcomes, capable of embedding what was learned into the future experiences of architects and specialists devoted to the extensive built and artistic heritage encountered in diverse contexts. In this issue of *Archeomatica*, we are pleased to present a collection of excerpts from the workshops held between 2014 and 2025 in contexts of great architectural and urban complexity. All these initiatives share the intent to balance technology, education, and the capacity to produce outputs that serve an intelligent use of knowledge and a deeper understanding of the value of cultural heritage. A crucial transition, therefore, is to view the creation of digital heritage not as a mere mechanical act, but as an opportunity to stimulate, cultivate, and consolidate passion and interest for the specific values embodied in each place, building, and fragment, fostering a productive evolution that bridges experience and culture. In the pages that follow, the proposed itinerary begins on the island of Cyprus, then moves to, and repeatedly returns to, Istanbul, a key hub of exchanges and intersections between historical and architectural periods. It proceeds to more recent explorations of cities in the Hellenistic area and concludes with a reflection on itinerant artistic elements, which are often “restless” components in the Cultural Heritage scenario and that demand particular and attentive consideration.