3D MODELING AND VISUALIZATION OF LARGE CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES AT VERY HIGH RESOLUTION: THE BAMIYAN VALLEY AND ITS STANDING BUDDHAS
Armin Gruen, Fabio Remondino, Li Zhang · 2004
In this paper we present the modeling and visualization of the cultural heritage area of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. The region is situated ca 200 km north-west of Kabul and it was one of the major Buddhist centres until the ninth century AD. The two standing Buddhas belonged to some of the most famous Buddhist monuments world-wide. In 2001 they were destroyed through an act of vandalism by the Taleban militia. In our previous reports we have already presented the 3D computer reconstruction of the Great Buddha while in this contribution we will describe the terrain modeling of the surrounding area from satellite images, the 3D reconstruction of the entire rock cliff of Bamiyan and the modeling of the two empty niches where the Buddha statues once stood. 1.