One often pleads man’s negligence to justify the ills that grind away at Italy’s artistic heritage. As we have just seen recently, the forces of Nature also have their part of responsibility. We still have very present in our minds the images of Assisi hit in September 1997: the basilica was torn open, its frescoes recreated with the patience of a Benedict monk. It could seem inappropriate to speak about the damage done to monuments when the search is still going on for s urvivors. It is nevertheless another face of the tragedy. The city of Aquila, the most beautiful one in the Abruzzi region, cannot count all of its losses: the campanile of the church of San Bernardino, the transept of the abbey of Collemaggio, founded by the future Pope Celestin V, the nave of the Duomo… And how could we not mention the minor centres of interest, symbols of the peninsula’s priceless wealth - Onna, Fossa or Paganica – equally hit by the earthquake? The world’s attention and interest only lasts a few minutes. But the rebuilding is often endless: according to the Italian Cour des comptes, half of the financing allocated following the earthquake in 1980 in Irpinia (the province of Avellino) were spent in pure losses. Certain inhabitants continue to live in temporary structures. Numerous palaces and churches are for ever deteriorating. This is an outcome we would like the victims of the Abruzzi region not to experience…