Film on renovation Bethlehem church

(By Massimo Lomonaco) (ANSA) - Tel Aviv, October 6 - A film by Tommaso Santi on the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by Prato-based firm Piacenti has been presented in Tel Aviv.
    The movie called "Restaurare il cielo", or restoring the sky, on Wednesday night was screened at the Italian cultural institute in Tel Aviv directed by Massimo Sarti, showing for the first time to the Israeli public - usually unable to travel to Bethlehem in the West Bank - the different phases of renovation being carried out by one of the top firms in the sector.
    Safeguarding cultural heritage is "a priority for Italy", said Italian ambassador to Italy, Francesco Maria Talò, at the presentation.
    The firm's president, Giammarco Piacenti, called it an historic renovation by Italian experts in one of the holiest sites of Christianity.
    Piacenti noted after the screening that the ongoing work not only required technical know-how but also the ability to manage a complex restoration in a volatile region.
    Talò noted at the event that Italy has protected cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Afghanistan and "is ready to do it wherever there will be an occasion", citing the creation of Italian task force 'Unite4Heritage', the "blue helmets of culture".
    The task force, including officers from Italy's Carabinieri military police art squad, was set up thanks to an agreement between Italy and UNESCO last year as part of the global campaign 'Unite4Heritage' powered by the organization to protect cultural heritage sites.
    The film 'Restaurare il cielo' focuses on the restoration work that has been ongoing since 2013 on the church, a UNESCO world heritage site.
    The church was built in the 4th century by Constantine's mother, Queen Helena.
    It was destroyed in the 5th century and then rebuilt by Emperor Justinian in 531.
    Traditionally considered the birthplace of Jesus, it suffered extensive damage over the centuries.
    A preliminary study on the monument was carried out in 2010 by a multidisciplinary group coordinated by the University of Ferrara's Consorzio Ferrara Ricerche, which won an international competition to carry out the research.
    Piacentini in 2013 won an international tender launched by Palestinian authorities with funding provided by several private donors.
    The restoration is being carried out by some 60 firms and 170 people - mainly Italian experts who have moved to the Palestinian city to restore the church from damage caused by, among others, water infiltration.
    Restorers are renovating and mapping mosaics and have discovered a large mosaic of the 'seventh' angel of the church, found with a thermography that made it possible to detect it under a solid surface. It rejoined the six other angels at the church.