Assisi basilica declared safe after earthquake shakes central Italy

The Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi was declared safe today (24 August), after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook central Italy. The head restorer Sergio Fusetti surveyed the upper and lower churches at the Unesco World Heritage site for signs of damage in the early hours of the morning, the Italian news agency ANSA reports. The 13th-century monument to Saint Francis, which is decorated with late Medieval frescoes by Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini, was partially destroy