A 52-year-old Spanish tourist
was killed Thursday after being struck by an "architectural
element" that fell off the top of a nave in Florence's Santa
Croce Basilica, sources said.
A fairly large piece of a capital came crashing down from 20
metres up and hit the man on the head, they said.
Medical teams rushed to the spot but were unable to revive
the man, who was visiting the church with his wife.
The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is
one of the Tuscan capital's best-known churches.
The basilica is the principal Franciscan church in Florence,
Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church.
It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres
south-east of the Duomo.
The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the
city walls.
It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious
Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet
Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, thus
it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories
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