Since 2020, we have been working alongside the monastery to develop digital tools that convey the identity of a place which is still home today to a community of Benedictine nuns and remains an active site of worship, while also forming part of the historical and artistic heritage recognised by UNESCO as part of the Baroque art of the Val di Noto.
Over the years, throughout this process, we have developed a range of digital services to support the visitor experience, designed to meet specific needs while being guided from the outset by a long-term vision.
This approach led to the creation of a multimedia web app, which replaced the audio guide during the Covid-19 pandemic; a virtual tour of the choir gallery, a space accessible only remotely; and the historical 3D reconstruction of the eighteenth-century parlour, in order to explain to visitors the function of a place that, today, is not always easy to understand.
Over the past year, thanks also to a contribution received by the Association “Museum of St. Benedict” from the “Camera di Commercio del Sud-Est Sicilia”, as part of the voucher scheme for businesses operating in the tourism sector, additional digital access services have been introduced.
The web app, which already included texts and audio tracks, has been updated with content in Italian Sign Language designed for deaf visitors, while three 3D prints of distinctive features along the visitor route have introduced a tactile dimension for visitors with visual impairments.
The video guide in LIS
A narrative that does not reduce the level of detail of the visitor experience; rather, it presents content already available in Italian using the syntax and rhythm specific to LIS.
From a technical perspective, the expansion did not require any changes to the web app’s architecture, as the platform had been designed from the outset with a dynamic content structure, manageable through a CMS and capable of publishing updates in real time without requiring a new application release.
The tactile dimension has also been incorporated.
Three 3D prints of selected details from the Church of Saint Benedict and the Staircase of the Angels, which leads into the church, have been created.
The first tactile panel reproduces the fresco The Triumph of Saint Benedict, focusing in particular on the Saint enthroned, holding a book engraved with the Benedictine Rule, with Saint Scholastica and Pope Gregory the Great beside him.
The second shows a detail from the fresco dedicated to the martyrdom of Saint Agatha, patron saint of the city
The third depicts one of the eight angels of the staircase, the Archangel Michael.
These 3D prints represent an initial step in the accessibility route designed for visitors with visual impairments, a path that continues to engage with the architectural constraints of the monastery, moving towards a more open and inclusive visitor experience for different audiences.
Together with the Association “Museum of St. Benedict”, we have chosen to develop accessibility and visitor services in stages, taking into account the needs expressed by those who use and experience the space. It is a bottom-up approach that recognises the needs of those who engage with the site before considering the tools themselves. The video guide in Italian Sign Language for deaf visitors and the tactile 3D prints for visitors with visual impairments thus complement the web app, the virtual tour, and the reconstruction of the parlour, becoming further stages in an accessibility journey that continues to evolve alongside the site’s cultural role.