Friday, April 09, 2004

NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN ROME...

Add this to your spring Roman itinerary, a church dating to the 8th Century has been freed from the rubble:
An earthquake buried the church and its numerous Byzantine and early Christian frescoes in 847 and it remained untouched until excavation and reconstruction began in 1900.

Much of the structure had survived and restorers have been hard at work on the interior since 1980 with the site to reopen to the public on April 10 until the end of May....

While many other churches in Rome have been knocked down, destroyed or rebuilt over the centuries, Santa Maria Antiqua's 12 centuries out of action meant it provided a perfect snapshot of early medieval artwork.

If anyone has an extra ticket to Rome, let me know.

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