The conservation of acoustical heritage

In the conservation and restoration of historical monuments , usually only concepts related to visual aesthetics are taken into consideration. However, preserving cultural heritage should include the preservation of the acoustical heritage as well. This paper presents CAHRISMA – 'The Conservation of Acoustical Heritage by the Revival and Identification of Sinan's Mosques' Acoustics', a research project carried on within the Fifth Framework INCO-MED Programme of the European Commission. The main objectives of this research are identification, revival and conservation of architectural heritage in a new way. Objective and subjective evaluations and audiovisual reconstruction of Sinan's Mosques and Byzantine Churches in 3D virtual environments are the basic approaches of the project. The main results were virtual restoration , virtual conservation, and determination of different significant acoustical effects.