'Incalculable' damage to Italy's monuments emerges, as scale of quake becomes apparent
'Incalculable' damage to Italy's monuments emerges, as scale of quake becomes apparent
Even as 272 people have died, experts yesterday spoke of "incalculable" damage to Italy's cultural heritage as the scale of the impact of the L'Aquila earthquake on the area's historic buildings became apparent.
Many Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance buildings in the 13th-century city were badly damaged in Monday's quake.
|
|
gouged out: The dome of the Santa Maria di Collemaggio, scene of the coronation of Pope Celestine in 1294, collapsed. Pics/ap |
"The damage is more serious than we can imagine," said Giuseppe Proietti, a culture ministry official. "The historic center of L'Aquila has been devastated."
Proietti said the city's own cultural offices, housed in a 16th century Spanish castle, had to close because of the damage. Churches and historic buildings in surrounding villages also suffered significant damage.
The 14th-century Tower of Medici, in the fortified village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, collapsed, as did the main altar of the baroque church of Sant'Angelo in Celano, seat of the lords who ruled the area in the Middle Ages.
The quake badly damaged the facade of the church of Sant'Agostino in Teramo, shifted a bell tower at the convent of San Domenico and brought down the ceiling of the church of Poggio Cono.
Rs 200 croreThe amount (30 million) culture officials have requested to shore up the most important architectural treasures
