Saturday marked the 800th anniversary of the death of one of Christianity's superstars, Saint Francis of Assisi.
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Saturday → mark → Assisi
Every year, millions of visitors flock to the basilica in Assisi to celebrate the miracles attributed to one of Italy's patron saints.
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millions → flock → saints
That the church is still standing is a miracle itself.
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church → stand → ?
It has survived war, fire and flood.
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It → survive → war
But nothing left more devastation than a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck in 1997 — cratering the roof and leaving countless art treasures permanently damaged.
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that → leave → treasures
Now, a team of art historians and software engineers have joined forces with the Franciscan Friars to try to finish the restoration — this time with the help of digital wizardry and artificial intelligence.
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team → join → wizardry
We had to find out more.
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We → have → more
Seven centuries ago, the friars knew a good location when they saw it.
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they → know → it
What was once a barren hill in Umbria where criminals swung from gallows was transformed into this: the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the magnificent resting place of one of Christianity's most beloved saints.
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criminals → swing → saints
Sometimes called the original hippie, Francis rejected his family's wealth for a life of poverty.
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Francis → call → poverty
Medieval masters couldn't resist the story of the radical monk and lined up to paint it.
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masters → resist → it
But in 1997 the great church almost came crashing down.
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church → come → 1997
Two quakes hit one after another.
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quakes → hit → another
A section of the soaring roof collapsed.
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section → soar → roof
A thick mushroom cloud filled with the soot of priceless art rolled down the aisle.
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cloud → fill → aisle
Four people were killed by falling rubble.
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people → kill → rubble
Everything was destroyed, was unsafe.
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Everything → destroy → ?
Really, I remember.
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I → remember → ?
I cannot forget it.
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I → forget → it
I saw the arch dancing like this.
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arch → see → this
I think people cannot believe it, but I saw it.
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I → think → it
Friar Guilio Cesareo — like Julius Cesar but with an "o" he told us — was a student here at the time.
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he → tell → time
Earthquakes still scare him.
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Earthquakes → scare → him
If I have the impression that there is something shaking, maybe it's just the wind, immediately I feel you know sort of cold coming from inside.
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you → have → impression
It was a shock that galvanized a desperate salvage operation.
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that → galvanize → operation
Restorers worked to heal the broken bodies of the saints.
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Restorers → work → saints
It was painstaking work and not all the pieces fit.
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pieces → fit → ?
No wonder the friars jumped at the chance to use 21st century technologies to restore their 13th century home.
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friars → jump → home
Right now we are digitizing in a super-high-definition this fresco — which is St. Francis talking to the Arles chapter
Giovanni Borelli is leading the project to create a digital twin of the basilica.
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Borelli → digitize → basilica
Borelli is the CTO of Haltadefinizione, a technology company that specializes in ultra-high-definition gigapixel photography.
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that → specialize → photography
This is no ordinary camera I take it?
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I → take → it
It's a robotic camera that we use to take a super-high-definition images.
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we → use → images
So you can see all the smallest details of the work of art, the strokes of the painting, of the brush.
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you → see → brush
You can see everything in great detail.
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You → see → detail
Giovanni Borelli: You know, you have a mobile camera.
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you → know → camera
So you with your camera and the pictures can see things that the human eye cannot?
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eye → see → things
Using cameras, drones and lasers, Borelli's team will take hundreds of thousands of pictures, stitching them together to create the most high resolution 3D blueprint of a building ever made.
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team → use → building
If disaster strikes this earthquake zone again, restorers will have an exact road map to rebuild.
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restorers → strike → map
For him, high-tech help arrived too late.
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help → arrive → him
He asked us to follow him down a narrow passageway to the hidden storage rooms beneath the church.
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He → ask → church
…and 54 more, not listed.
The Aporia
