CI PA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey 
Figure 1. Southwestern view of the Dafni Monastery 
2. DATA BASE CONSIDERATIONS 
After the main bulk of the geometric documentation works had 
finished, it was decided to proceed to the data base creation. 
The contents of the database would be mainly qualitative 
information for all structural elements of the monument. This 
meant that for every stone, for every brick, for every 
ornamental or other single element of the internal and the 
external surfaces of the church relevant information should be 
available. Structuring such a database with that level of high 
detail was one of the main research issues of the whole project. 
It was for the first time that such a data base was specified, at 
least to such an extended detail. Contemporary technology and 
the advancement of GIS allow today the fast, systematic 
recording of such information, but also their recovery according 
to the users’ desire. On the other hand the possibility for direct 
connection of these pieces of information to the geometric 
position of the various objects in 3D space is possible. 
For the implementation of the data base the combination of two 
commercially available pieces of software was chosen: 
• AutoCAD Map 2000i®, which provides the possibility of 
bridging the geometric and topological base map (i.e. the 
vector or raster drawing) to a data base software 
• MS Access 2000®, which carries the desired quantitative 
information 
based on the following criteria: 
1. AutoCAD Map 2000i® software is actually a GIS and co 
operates, among others, with MS Access 2000®. 
2. In this software there is the possibility of recording, 
analysing, processing and presenting various qualitative 
phenomena in the form of thematic maps, but also the 
execution of logical queries by the user. 
3. There is also the possibility for the base map to be either a 
traditional vector drawing or a raster product (such as an 
orthophotography) and, in addition, it is possible to access 
more than one drawings at the same time. 
4. MS Access 2000® is a widely accepted software with a lot 
of possibilities of managing descriptive information and is 
connected easily to AutoCAD Map 2000i®. 
The data base design was carried out in co-operation and 
according to pertinent discussions with the supervisors of the 
Direction of Restoration of Byzantine Monuments of the 
Ministry of Culture. The various qualitative pieces of 
information were connected to the vector drawings and the 
ortho-photomosaics (Delinikolas et al, 2000). The end products 
require the installation of the two parts of the software and offer 
to the users the possibility to edit, update and complement the 
various elements. 
3. DATA BASE DESIGN 
This part specifically concerned the implementation of the 
conceptual and logical database design. The high level of detail 
and the intrinsic complexity of the subject render the task of 
database design extremely hard. The design considerations and 
especially the determination of the various qualitative 
information fields for every conceptual entity specified were 
studied in detail in co-operation with the interested users, 
belonging to several different scientific fields like preservers, 
architects, civil engineers etc. It should be noted at this point 
that the design of the database highly depends on the spatial 
analysis taking place inside the GIS context. In other words the 
database itself, disconnected from the spatial entities will not be 
functional. 
Database design is a three-step procedure including the design 
of the conceptual schema, the logical schema and the 
implementation of the logical schema in the physical level. 
Conceptual design concerns to the explicit description of the 
database regardless of the way it is materialized in the hardware 
level. The most known and widely used conceptual model is the 
Entity Relational model well known as E-R. The E-R model for 
the facades of the Katholikon, representing the different basic 
conceptual entities and the relations among them, is shown in 
Figure 2. 
Four (4) basic conceptual entities were specified, named: 
StructuralZones, Stuctural_Sections, Structural_Set and 
StructuralJElements. Structural_Elements was the main entity 
representing every separate structural element of each facade of 
the monument. The necessary attribute properties determined 
for the specific entity concerned to: 
• geological properties 
• deterioration-degradation type 
• processing type 
• dimensions. 
In addition, to each stone or brick of the outer walls, a property 
concerning the surrounding connecting material was assigned. 
Joint type was the term used to specify this kind of property as 
it is shown in the E-R diagram. There are 8 different types of 
joints on the walls and the roof of the church. 
The rest conceptual entities were specified and used in order to 
describe univocally the location of each structural element of 
the outer walls of one specific facade. The Structural_Zones 
entity represents the horizontal division of each facade in 
different adjacent horizontal zones. The Structural Sections 
entity represents the vertical division of each facade in different 
adjacent vertical zones. Finally the Structural_Set entity refers 
to every distinct part of the outer walls consisting of several 
structural elements like windows, other architectural entities 
This particular conceptual organization helps to