The cathedral in Urbino was one of the sites damaged in Wednesday's earthquake.
The cathedral in Urbino was one of the sites damaged in Wednesday's earthquake.
Olaf Protze/LightRocket/Getty Images

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Hundreds of historical sites were damaged in the quake zone

At least two heritage sites in hard-hit Amatrice partially collapsed

CNN  — 

The earthquake that rattled central Italy has left hundreds of cultural and historical sites damaged or destroyed, Italy’s minister of culture said Thursday.

Minister Dario Franceschini said at least 293 cultural heritage assets were damaged in the earthquake zone, according to CNN affiliate RIA.

Fifty were destroyed, RIA reported.

Among the structures or sites damaged were Cattedrale di Urbino, an ancient Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Urbino, which suffered small structural cracks, the cultural ministry website said, as well as Monastero Santa Chiara in the city of Camerino.

The San Giuliano cathedral in the town of Macerata also sustained damage in Wednesday’s magnitude-6.2 earthquake.

In a photo taken before the earthquake, the Church of San Giuliano is seen behind the bell tower of the Church of St. Paul in Macerata.
In a photo taken before the earthquake, the Church of San Giuliano is seen behind the bell tower of the Church of St. Paul in Macerata.
De Agostini/Getty Images

In the hard-hit town of Amatrice, the Basilica Di San Francesco and the Chiesa di Sant Agostino partially collapsed, the ministry said. Slide the bar in the image below to see before and after views of the Chiesa di Sant Agostino.

Before: Google, After: FILIPPO MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

The basilica of the Benedictine Monks of Norcia also was damaged, as were the city’s historic medieval walls.

Franceschini said all proceeds from state museums on August 28 will go to areas affected by the earthquake. He invited Italians to go to museums on that day “as a sign of solidarity with the population” in regions hardest hit by the temblor.

CNN’s Milena Veselinovic and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.