The archaeological mission in Armenia has started, on the Silk Roads, directed by the Councilor Sergio Ferdinandi, archaeologist, Vice President of ISMEO (www.ismeo.eu), member of the Superior Council of Cultural Heritage (https://www.beniculturali.it / superior-council-for-cultural-and-landscape-heritage) and General Manager of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (www.esteri.it). The research project established by the Institute of Archeology and Etnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia / Hayastani Azgayin Akademiai Hnagitakan yev Azgagrutyan Institut-IAE NAS RA and ISMEO, will operate from the Aruch / Արուճ site (https://silkroad.missionearcheologica.it/).
Under the guidance of Ferdinandi, a specialist in fortification and military architecture especially from the Crusader and Byzantine East, former expert of the UNESCO Italian National Commission and Honorary Inspector of the Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome; the mission has as its objective the study of the fortifications and castral systems of the fortification system for defense and control of the stretch of the Silk Road included in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. "The research project, the Aidr association underlines in a note - has an extraordinary historical and cultural relevance and makes use of the aid of high-tech research tools." The excavation campaign will be accompanied by a series of activities planned in the coming months, which will see the involvement of the greatest international scholars and which will wind between Rome and Yerevan. Among the first partners of the initiative, in addition to Aidr, there are Poste Italiane, Canon Italia, Città in Internet, Iet, Noema Digital, Isweb and AIT.