YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, ARMENPRESS. The devastating earthquake in Italy damaged or destroyed almost 300 buildings of historic significance, Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism of Italy Dario Franceschini said, Sputnik News reported.

"There are 293 immovable properties of cultural value collapsed or badly damaged within a radius of 20 km [12 miles] from the epicenter of the earthquake," Franceschini told journalists as quoted by Italian daily La Repubblica on Thursday.

The damaged cultural properties span several quake-affected regions, including Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Abruzzo, according to Franceschini. They include the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor, located in Umbria. On Wednesday, a 6.0-magnitude quake shook the central Italian Umbria region, causing damage across numerous towns in several provinces and resulting in the death of over 240 people. The earthquake was followed by multiple aftershocks.