The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Hadrian's Villa near Rome are among some 60% of Italy's heritage sites at risk from earthquakes, the culture ministry said Thursday.
At a conference in the wake of the April 6 earthquake that saw all churches and heritage buildings in the Abruzzo capital L'Aquila suffer serious damage, the culture ministry called for a 2007 programme of controls and risk reduction to be stepped up for the 150,000 buildings thought to be vulnerable.
The ministry said a government directive to complete a vulnerability survey on buildings by December 2010 is behind schedule partly due to confusion over technical norms.
In addition, only 5,000 buildings of cultural significance are owned by the state, with around 105,000 in Church hands, 55,000 owned privately and around 90,000 belonging to local authorities.
''We have the problem that prevention is seen as an encumbrance without any immediate payback,'' said Cultural Heritage Ministry Director-General Roberto Cecchi.
Ministry architect Laura Moro said the first phase of the programme is to verify vulnerability, while the second phase would be to start work to reduce the risk of buildings being damaged by quakes.
She warned that it would take ''at least ten years'' to safeguard all heritage sites against seismic activity.
Cecchi said work was being carried out on the the Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia, home of Michelangelo's David, while controls have already been completed for some buildings in the Veneto region.
A joint report issued by the ministry and the civil protection department in 2007 identified more than 3,000 cities and towns at risk from earthquakes.
Among other famous sites on the list are Canosa di Puglia's Norman castle, Barletta Cathedral, the Reggia di Caserta, Tivoli's Villa D'Este, Urbino's Palazzo Ducale, Arezzo's Basilica di San Francesco, the towers of San Gimignano and Siena's Piazza del Campo.
