ROME.- Roman churches, funerary monuments and museums where artistic treasures are housed have been damaged in the Italian region affected by the earthquake. Even though the extent of the damage has not been calculated, David Rijser, an expert in Classic and Renaissance antiquities has tried to calculate the losses.

"It has been a true drama, there is a lot that has been lost”, said David Rijser to Radio Nederland. “In 1985 I visited the Abruzzo region for the first time. At that time there were no tourists”, he told reporter Philip Smet by telephone. These days there are few art lovers in the region even though there are a lot of places that deserved to be visited. In L' Aguila and its surroundings there are many Roman and Gothic churches and other buildings from the XIII, XIV and XV centuries.

Italy today lives the tragedy caused by the earthquake that hit a region that is the birthplace of art and civilization. No other catastrophe can ever erase the memory of those who, throughout the centuries, marked the identity of their cities.

Among the masterpieces destroyed were the gothic church of Maria di Collemaggio, built in the 13th century in the mountainous region of Abruzzo that was the epicentre of the quake.

Sources from the Italian Superintendency of Cultural Heritage have stated that the Caracalla Thermal Baths, in Rome, have suffered damages due to the earthquake. Other Roman monuments in Rome have not suffered damages.