Ferrara, portion of the roof of San Domenico collapses. Damage of 300,000 euros

In Ferrara, the imposing church of San Domenico, one of the city’s largest and best-known, has suffered a partial collapse of its roof: the house of worship, hard hit by the 2012 earthquake and still uninhabitable since that date, has thus suffered major new damage that will further delay recovery time. The church, which is located in the heart of the historic center not far from the Estense Castle, has already undergone in the past few hours some work-stamping to reinforce the ceiling of the apse (where the subsidence occurred) to avoid further problems of this kind. The next few days will also see the removal of debris and the installation of an anti-rain sheet to avert heavy water infiltration that could aggravate the situation.

The intervention alone to secure the roof and cover the thirty-square-meter gash that has occurred is estimated to be in the order of three hundred thousand euros, which is on top of the 2.7 million euros of damage suffered by the church of San Domenico during the Emilia earthquake (it was the most damaged church in Ferrara). “This collapse further highlights the criticality of San Domenico,” Don Stefano Zanella, head of the technical office of the Diocese of Ferrara, said in an interview with La Nuova Ferrara. “We knew there were problems but not so serious. The collapse of the roof makes it necessary to take corrective action as soon as possible to avoid greater trouble, and let’s remember that there is an open wound above the church. In agreement with the superintendence, a project must now be set up as soon as possible to secure the entire apsidal vault of the church, which was heavily affected by the collapse.”

Certainly, the severe neglect experienced by the church, on which no work has been done since 2012, has certainly contributed to making an already very precarious situation heavier. The church of St. Dominic has very ancient origins: the first church was built as early as the 13th century, while the building in its current form dates back to 1726.

In the photo: the facade of the church of San Domenico in Ferrara in an image from 2011. Ph. Credit

Ferrara, portion of the roof of San Domenico collapses. Damage of 300,000 euros

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