One of Italy's most famous Baroque jewels, the cathedral of Noto in Sicily, is to reopen a decade after its collapse sent the art world into shock.
Announcing the May event, Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso said "it will be a fantastic surprise".
He said the UNESCO World Heritage Site would be "even more beautiful than people remember it".
The cathedral collapsed on the night of March 13-14 1996, after heavy rain seeped into cracks formed by a 1990 earthquake.
It took four years to clear away rubble and shore up the site, and another seven to bring it back to its former splendour.
"It was an extremely complicated operation," said Bertolaso, whose department worked closely with Italy's top Baroque experts and restorers.
The restorers used material as similar as possible to the ones that saw the great structure rise between 1703 and 1776 - in the wake of a catastrophic earthquake across southwest Sicily at the end of the 17th century.
"The same pale-yellow limestone was trucked in from around Italy and period materials were employed to reconstruct the delightful frescoes on the vault," Bertolaso said.
Fifty workers have worked every day since January 2000 to put nearly 6,000 ornate decorations back in place.
Bertolaso said the cathedral - heart of an extraordinary collection of architectural wealth - would be reopened to the public on May 26.
Making it a World Heritage Site in 2002, UNESCO said Noto and the seven other towns in its valley were "a testament to the exuberant genius of the art and architecture of the late Baroque".
Nestling between the provinces of Catania, Ragusa and Siracusa, the Val di Noto is a striking juxtaposition of rocky hills, Mediterranean vegetation, cultivated fields and some of the most beautiful churches and palaces in the European Baroque.
Italian high-brow film director Michelangelo Antonioni, once seen as the master in finding visual expression for human alienation, shot part of his 1960 film L'Avventura in Noto.
