Rome's 2,000-year-old Colosseum monument was unscathed by the devastating magnitude 6.0 earthquake that hit central Italy on Wednesday, culture officials said.
Checks were carried out before the Colosseum was cleared to be opened to visitors and there had been no apparent damage of "of any kind" to the ancient arena, its superintendency said.
Wednesday's earthquake was felt as far away as Florence and Naples and killed over 70 people, destroying hill towns in Lazio, Umbria and Marche. The quake epicentre was in the province of Rieti in northern Lazio, near the village of Accumoli and it struck at 3.36 am local time.
Several cracks appeared on the ceiling of the Marche city of Urbino's Renaissance cathedral, which was immediately cordoned off, officials said. The cathedral had be repaired after a 1997 quake caused some of the facade's statues to collapse.
In the nearby medieval university town of Camerino, a wall collapsed at the Santa Chiara monastry and the cathedral was closed after its clock was damaged.
No damage was reported to the Umbrian city of Assisi's medieval cathedral or its various basilicas.
