We present a comprehensive methodology for the large-scale photogrammetric documentation of St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its ornate Baroque architecture and Caravaggio masterpieces. Over seven nights of evening-only data collection, we captured 99,000 images using DSLR cameras, drone photography, and LIDAR scanning to create a highly detailed 3D reconstruction comprising 25-30 billion triangles. This paper documents our complete workflow for cultural heritage preservation, addressing the unique challenges of digitizing complex baroque architectural spaces with highly reflective metallic surfaces, dark materials, intricate tapestries, and restricted access. We detail our pipeline from multi-modal data acquisition through processing, including strategic image grading and AI-assisted denoising to address low-light grain, extensive LIDAR point cloud cleanup, hybrid photogrammetric reconstruction using RealityCapture, and mesh subdivision strategies for real-time visualization engines. Our methodology combines automated workflows with necessary manual intervention to handle the scale and complexity of the project, with particular attention to reflective surface challenges characteristic of baroque heritage sites. We also present preliminary experiments with Gaussian splatting as a complementary representation technique. The resulting digital archive serves multiple preservation purposes including disaster recovery documentation, conservation analysis, virtual tourism, and scholarly research. This work provides a detailed, replicable workflow for heritage professionals undertaking similar large-scale architectural documentation projects, addressing the practical challenges of applying photogrammetric methods in complex real-world heritage scenarios.

翻译：我们提出了针对马耳他瓦莱塔圣约翰大教堂（联合国教科文组织世界遗产地，以华丽的巴洛克建筑和卡拉瓦乔杰作闻名）进行大规模摄影测量建档的综合方法论。通过七个夜晚的夜间数据采集，我们使用DSLR相机、无人机摄影和LIDAR扫描获取了99,000张图像，创建了包含250-300亿个三角形的超高细节三维重建模型。本文记录了我们在文化遗产保护方面的完整工作流程，解决了数字化复杂巴洛克建筑空间中高反射金属表面、深色材料、精细挂毯以及受限访问等独特挑战。我们详细阐述了从多模态数据采集到处理的完整管线，包括策略性图像分级和AI辅助去噪以应对低光照噪点、大规模LIDAR点云清理、基于RealityCapture的混合摄影测量重建，以及面向实时可视化引擎的网格细分策略。本方法将自动化工作流与必要的人工干预相结合，以应对项目的规模和复杂性，特别关注巴洛克遗产地典型的反射表面挑战。我们还介绍了将高斯泼溅作为互补表示技术的初步实验。最终生成的数字档案服务于多种保护目的，包括灾害恢复文献记录、保护分析、虚拟旅游和学术研究。本研究为从事类似大规模建筑建档项目的遗产专业人员提供了详细且可复现的工作流程，解决了在复杂现实遗产场景中应用摄影测量方法的实际挑战。