ROME, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Culture Ministry on Tuesday unveiled a 600-million-euro (740 million U.S. dollars) plan to make the country's churches, museums, and monuments earthquake-proof.
The funds will be available immediately and include "the most important anti-seismic plan ever financed for state museums", plus a refurbishing of city peripheries and restorations throughout Italy, the ministry said in a statement.
"The resources allocated today mark an important goal with the first, large-scale seismic risk prevention plan for state museums, and the securing of national cultural assets," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said.
The ministry statement came with a 32-page list of projects in locations across the country. The money will be spent on archeological sites, castles, churches, fortresses, libraries, palaces, museums, and theaters.
In Rome the ministry is financing 26 different interventions, including making the Colosseum earthquake-safe.
Florence got financing for 18 projects, most of them restorations, plus construction of two new museums in Palazzo Pitti. Naples, which lies in the highly seismic Campania region, will see 21 different churches, museums, and other cultural sites made quake-proof. Venice will see nine anti-seismic interventions, and some restorations.
