Synthesizing the information in Chapters Three and Four of the book "Templars in Bologna- a multidisciplinary approach" by Giampiero Bagni (Routledge, 2023) made it possible to create a 3D film reconstruction of the Templar House around 1250. It has been possible to create this reconstruction thanks to the collaboration of the experts in informatics of the TowerandPower society whose costs were covered thanks to author fund-raising for the archaeological excavation. Every aspect of the Templar House was discussed between the author and the informatics (materials, forms, technical features) team, then rendered in 3D.

1. Methodology
To illustrate how this technology actually works it is important to understand a key point, namely the difference between the old 2D, which is essentially a cartographic representation in plan with the use of perspective in an artistic sense, and the 3D that generates a digital modeling, based on mathematical algorithms.
For example, look at the following table in which the bell tower of the church of the Magione (now lost) has been reproduced: on the right side highlighted in a cutaway image, it is clear that the structure was not created as a drawing, but as a real construction made with 45 beams of seven different sizes, apart from the roof and the bell.



Fig. 1. The creation of the bell-tower in 3D.

Each of these beams was designed, built and sized before being "placed" one by one to precisely compose the structure. This required a commitment of not less than six hours per team member, which provides an idea of the global effort needed to complete a vast and complex reconstruction like the Magione.
In fact, since the technology stems from mathematical models based on the interpolation of three cardinal points in space, the only way to make a curved surface is to break it down into hundreds and hundreds of micro flat surfaces very close to each other. In the case of the Templar warehouse, given the large number of curved objects and fruit/ vegetables, we can deduce that a few millions of these flat surfaces were generated!

Fig. 2. The creation of the Knights Hall structure.
This great effort, however, produced results and creating the Magione has proven that 3D reconstruction can offer answers that researchers would not be able to find otherwise. We found a problem through this process - determining the height of the east building in the cloister, represented in the image below. This building, which was likely used as a stable, was adjacent with the warehouse that has been perfectly preserved, the current Knights’ Hall. This allowed us to establish with certainty from the holes present that there was a balcony, with external access only directly on the side of the east building.
It is now known that the average height of a house was around 12-13 Bolognese feet per floor and therefore the two floors of the stables were built at this height at first. But, as is visible in box no. 1 in Fig. 3, the 3D reconstruction allowed us to exclude - with reasonable certainty - that the first floor was of standard height, because then the equally standard second would have almost "beheaded" the poor Templars who came out of the balcony, a fixed point that is archaeologically "certain".



Fig. 3. An example of utilization of 3D to better understand the connection between the buildings of the Templar House.

The only other possibility for the height of the east building to have been "regular" is reproduced in box no. 2 in Fig. 3, with the necessary setback of the building by a few meters. Yet even this case is incongruous, because it would cause an opening for the cloister that would undermine its safety, with beams on the ground which would also hamper its usability. Hence the final hypothesis was chosen because it was more sensible. It suggests the stable was of standard height plus a mezzanine for hay, making the whole very balanced, as can be seen in box no. 3.
This process permitted, for example, the determination of the size of the chariots that entered the Knights Hall to deliver wine, represented in 3D as the path and the curves these chariots would have had to follow.



Fig. 4. The reconstruction of the Templar House complex as seen from east.