The Maxxi national contemporary art and architecture museum in Rome and Milan's Triennale museum of art and design will help restore the Ukrainian city of Odesa's historic Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral, which was badly damaged by Russian missiles last month, the Italian prime minister's office stated on Friday.
The involvement of Maxxi and the Triennale di Milano as well as Italy's art restoration schools in repairing the 18th-century cathedral and its frescos stems from "a long and very rich history of cultural exchanges with Odessa," the statement said.
The restoration project also symbolises "an old friendship between two peoples and an active rebirth of the city, according to the statement.
The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral, founded in 1794 and rebuilt in 2005 after its destruction by the Soviet Union in 1936, was one of dozens cultural monuments which were damaged or destroyed in Odesa by overnight Russian missile attacks on 23 July, officials said.
The cathedral lies in Odesa's city centre, which Unesco named a World Heritage Site ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year. The port city is a key cultural centre and has long links with Russia.
Italian architects designed Odesa's layout and key landmarks in the late 18th century, the statement noted.
