The proceeds raised from public museums across Italy today will be donated to rebuilding work after the devastating earthquake that killed 291 people on Wednesday.
The Italian Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini said several churches and other medieval buildings that were destroyed when the 6.2 magnitude quake struck Amatrice would benefit. The Mayor of Amatrice said he wanted to restore his town to its former glory. The Prime minister and president both attended a funeral for 35 victims yesterday.
“There are 293 immovable properties of cultural value collapsed or badly damaged in the radius of 20 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake to Lazio, Marche, Umbria, and Abruzzo,” Franceschini said. He urged Italians to go out in force on Sunday to visit museums and archaeological sites “in a concrete sign of solidarity” with quake victims, who would be supported by the money raised.
Antonia Pasqua Recchia, Secretary General of the Italian Ministry for Heritage and Cultural Activities, however, added that the number of damaged cultural heritage was likely to increase “because the earthquake action expands along the slopes and not in a geometric circle around the epicenter.”
Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole told the congregation that people had to be brave enough to rebuild their lives, and their towns.The appeal to rebuild was echoed by Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice, the worst-affected town which lost 235 inhabitants in the earthquake.
The mayor of Amatrice said he would not stop until building regulations had been tightened.