ARK III: 3D Digitization of Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage, Now Online

The war in Ukraine threatens not only human lives but also the memory of an entire nation. Since the start of the Russian invasion, more than 400 cultural monuments have been damaged or destroyed: libraries, museums, churches and historic buildings. The ARK III project was created in response. It is a mobile 3D digitization station that makes it possible to create precise digital copies of museum objects right where they are at risk.

The station is housed in a specially fitted Volkswagen Crafter equipped with 3D scanners and photogrammetry systems, which can digitize both small artefacts and large objects. The digital copies record each object’s current condition and serve documentation and scientific research. If an original is damaged or destroyed, they will provide the basis for its restoration. ARK III was created by the National Museum in Prague together with the Karel Komárek Family Foundation. National Museum specialists developed a unique methodology for mobile 3D digitization and prepared the station’s technical equipment, while the KKFF foundation funded the project and was its initiating partner. ARK III is part of the broader Ark project, which also includes ARK I, a mobile conservation laboratory for written heritage, and ARK II, a station for 2D digitization of documents.

On 25 May 2026, the station was formally handed over in Kyiv to the National Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Preserve. This museum complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and holds more than 73,000 museum objects, from icons and manuscripts to archaeological finds. This is where ARK III operates during the first phase of the project. However, the station will serve more than just the Lavra. Immediately after the handover, thirty specialists from other Ukrainian museums were trained, primarily from institutions near the front line or those that had to be evacuated.

To ensure that the station’s work does not remain only in archives, we have created the website ark3.eu. Digitized objects will gradually be published here, with their 3D models, photographs and basic information. The website will also feature news about the station’s work and about the people who care for the preservation of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Its aim is not only to preserve digital copies, but also to make these monuments accessible to specialists and the wider public in Ukraine and beyond.

The ARCHA III station digitized the first objects from the collection of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Preserve in August and September 2026. The digital collection now includes six artefacts from the 17th–19th centuries: a panagia icon, an early printed book, two crosses and two chalices. All of them are connected to the liturgical life of the Lavra. Their rich decoration, including engraving, chasing, openwork elements and inlays of turquoise, coral and coloured glass, makes them exactly the kind of objects for which 3D documentation is most valuable: the digital model captures not only the overall shape of each object but also its finest details.

We invite you to explore the first 3D models and follow the growth of the digital collection.