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ARAMIS
Arab Mills
and Irrigation System in the Mediterranean
Basin: Study,
Documentation and Protection
Aims of the
project
The
aims of the ARAMIS project are:
 to encourage
the study and protection of the vast pre-industrial
heritage (infrastructures, buildings and machinery)
represented by agricoltural irrigation systems, water
supply canals ,and water mills built in Europe by the
Arab populations during the period of the Islsmic
invasions which goes from the 9th to the l5th century.
The identification and documentation of this patrimóny
df minor architecture, which spread through many regions
of the Mediterranean Basin (Andalusia, Sicily, Greece,
Malta, Corsica as well as North Africa and the Middle
East), is important because it is in danger of
disappearing;
to develóp
among the various partners a comparison of the
restoration methods and techniques for the restoration
and conservation of these buildings and infrastructures
throughout these areas through the recovery and
restoration of several mills;
to set up a
cooperative network of partners which can address
attention to these monuments in Europe through
international cooperation. The aim is to set up a
permanent information network among partners, and to
define a common approach to the protection of these
buildings.
The
pilot project ARAMIS follows two main guidelines:
a) to perform
the systematic cataloguing of these mills. by means of
surveys, construction of catalogue records and
documentation of the state of conservation. The basic
results will be published in widely disseminated thematic
publications but above all will take the form of a
computerized data base.
b) to set up
a network of centres for the documentation of these
buildings and of related problems. This network, which
will be gradually extended, will consist of several poles
located in the Mediterranean countries. These poles,
denoted as "water and water míll museums",
will not consist solely of exhibitory structures but will
actually be centres of documentation in progress.
These
poles may consist of:
- mills
restored and set up as museums;
- sections
of local museums.
- Whenever
the museum is housed in a mill, the building will
be subjected to an integrated survey by experts
in archaeology and the history of architecture,
architects and restoration technicians, and then
restored and set up as a museum.
Each
water museum will contain:
- panels
telling about the history and characteristics of
these buildings, but also giving explanations
conceryng the techniques and systems of
irrigation, of canalization and supply of water
built by the Arabs in the farmlands they
conquered;
- all
the original components collected in the area and
suitable scale models illustrating the mechanisms
ofthe mill in order to explain also the ancient
flour-grinding techniques;
- an
interactive multimedial information terminal
equipped with historical and archaeological
databases, hypertexts of the research carried
out, audiovisuals explaining the functioning of
the water mills and ,their relations with the
geographic area and the systems of farm water
supply and iirigation;
- a
specialist hard copy library
Project
structure
The following
work schedule sets out the main tasks and interrelated
aspects to be carried out to document and recover the
Arab water mills in the Mediteiranean area. Project flow
chart showing tasks: 
With a view
to promoting the recovery and enhancement of such an
important architectonic heritage of European interest,
the most significant aspect of the ARAMIS Project is the
creation of a network of water museums and water mills
organized as documentation centres.
Thé first
nucleus of this network, to be financed with project
funds, will consist of two poles: the museum of the
castle of Castellammare del Golfo; in Sicily and the
museum of water and water mills in Lecrìn, in Andalusia.
Profile of
the ARAMIS Project Consortium
Briefly, the
structure of the proposed association consists of a
coordinating scientific body specialized in historical
studies, surveying and design (Research,Institute A), a
centre with specialist skills in imagining and
multimedial documentabon (Research Institute E), a
government building restoration agency (Unit G) and four
political and administrative bodies concerned with
managing the restoration and exploitation of the
pre-industrial productive buildings (partners B,C,D and
F), as well as supporters of the research into and
documentation of this heritage.
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