Beyond the Digital Documentation: The Monumental Cemetery of Perugia and Interpretive Models for Funerary Heritage

Funerary heritage represents a complex form of cultural heritage, where tangible and intangible values intertwine. Monumental cemeteries are layered places that reflect historical, artistic, and landscape transformations, contributing to cultural identity. This contribution, which forms part o f an ongoing doctoral research project, presents the case of the Monumental Cemetery of Perugia (Umbria, Italy), inaugurated in 1849 above an ancient Etruscan-Roman burial area. The study aims to develop a memory twin: a digital model that integrates historical, architectural, and landscape data for cognitive and narrative purposes. Digitisation is understood not as a neutral technical act, but as a critical process involving choices in survey scales, classification, and interpretation. The proposed strategies include taxonomies and thematic itineraries designed to enhance the site’s complexity and foster new forms of engagement. From this perspective, digitisation is understood as a cultural process rather than a merely technical one: digital survey, GIS mapping, and storytelling platforms become interpretive tools capable of fostering awareness, accessibility, and participation. The s tudy situates this approach within broader transformations in cultural and experiential tourism, in which monumental cemeteries are increasingly recognised as cultural landscapes and places of memory. The first outcomes highlight how digital tools can generate participatory models that reactivate the link between memory, space, and storytelling, offering new opportunities for understanding, education, and sustainable cultural tourism.