Sony Full HD CCTV cameras provide enhanced security at the "The Holy Thorn" famed relic

The Cathedral contains many treasured items and a surveillance system is needed

Background

The Cathedral of Andria, in the Puglia Region of Southern Italy, is a priceless artistic and historic treasure, for which a CCTV video-surveillance system was requested. Dating from approximately the 12th century, the Cathedral contains a famed precious relic, “The Holy Thorn”, believed to be one of the thorns from the Crown of Thorns forced on the head of Christ before his Crucifixion. It also holds the tombs of two of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia's wives, Yolanda of Brienne and Elisabeth of England, as well as a fine 13th century icon of the Madonna and a 15th century bust of Francesco II del Balzo, Duke of Andria, attributed to Francesco Laurana.

 

 

Given the importance of the building and the treasures it contains, church authorities commissioned a special technologically advanced surveillance system that would also permit night vision.

 

 

Sony has equipped the Andria Cathedral with 32 video cameras, both fixed and swivelling, both HD and FULL HD, which, thanks to special infra-red leds, achieve night vision even in pitch darkness. The system was also designed to relay high quality live images of religious services to the two side naves. In other words, as well as serving as a daytime and night-time security video, the system has also been designed to allow the faithful in the lateral naves to see the religious functions held in the presbytery and the side chapel. These images are relayed to 6 40" screens attached to the central columns and, if required, can also be video-projected in a large adjoining chapel. The system can also be used to show DVDs, audio/video guides and cultural and tourist presentations, a service that is much appreciated by visitors to the Cathedral. The following cameras have been installed: 18 SCN-DH 160, 7 SCN-DH 180, 2 SCN-CH 280, 2 SCN-CH 180, 1 SCN-CH 120 and 2 SCN-EP 580 

 

 

The church authorities have pronounced themselves extremely satisfied with the video surveillance system installed and with the spectacularly high quality of the images visualised.

 

“The church authorities are extremely satisfied, not only with the security performance of the system, but also with the extraordinary quality of the images transmitted”, emphasise Gianluca and Francesco Pizzolorusso

Why Sony was selected

 

Sony was chosen because it is a worldwide standard-setter in the field of video-surveillance, offering outstanding image quality, unobtrusive equipment and an unbeatable price-quality ratio. 

 

“Operating in sites of major historic and cultural significance is always especially satisfying, all the more so in cases like this, where the religious dimension is also deeply important. The system installed in the Cathedral by Tecnoimpianti Pizzolorusso, with whom we have a long-standing and fruitful collaboration, boasts 32 HD and FULL HD cameras, including 2 Speed Dome FULL HD cameras mounted on the columns in front of the presbytery. The system stores all the video surveillance data in a special server managed by NVR Milestone Professional 8.0 software" explains Alfredo Donadei, Senior Channel Account Manager, Video Security, Sony Europe. “For even greater security and data multiplication, the server has been equipped with 4 hard discs of various capacities, configured in Raid modality”. 

 

 

“The church authorities are extremely satisfied, not only with the security performance of the system, but also with the extraordinary quality of the images transmitted”, emphasise Gianluca and Francesco Pizzolorusso, owners of Tecnoimpianti Pizzolorusso Srl, which designed and installed the system. “Sony is a worldwide benchmark performer in the field of video surveillance, and we chose it because of its outstanding image quality, unobtrusive equipment and unbeatable price-quality ratio.” The design and construction supervision were handled by Pasquale Losito.