Local Climate Pressure on Cultural Heritage Sites—The Case of the Ancient Greek Theatre of Dodoni, Epirus, Greece

Abstract

Climate change is an ongoing process with evident effects on local climates. Heritage management is vital for the protection of cultural heritage, with vulnerability assessment and mitigation-adaptation strategies. This research presents the pressure of local climate and the climate extremes on the ancient Greek theatre of Dodoni in North-Western Greece, which combines cultural, natural, tangible, and intangible heritage. The impact of local climate is analyzed by collecting climatological daily time series of ambient air temperature, humidity, and precipitation, acquired by the nearby meteorological station of Ioannina (Hellenic National Meteorological Service) for the period 1956–2022. This information is incorporated into heritage management for future protection.

Keywords

• cultural heritage
• climate change
• ancient Greek theatre of Dodoni
• management plan