Daniel Testor Schnell, a 52-year old tourist from Barcelona, tragically died Wednesday afternoon after being hit by a piece of masonry that fell from the ceiling of Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce.
The famed church—one of Florence’s top tourist attractions and home to the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo—will be closed today, Friday, October 20, according to the organization that manages the church, the Opera di Santa Croce. The Local reports, though, that the building will remain closed “indefinitely.”
According to ABC News, the piece of stone, about six inches by six inches, fell almost 60 feet and is thought to have come loose from a piece of stonework supporting beams on the church’s ceiling.
Testor, who was visiting Florence with his wife, is said to have been killed instantly on impact.
This, sadly, isn’t the first time a piece of Italy’s oldest churches and monuments crumbled and injured a bystander. The Guardian reports that in July, loose plaster fell from the ceiling of the Acireale Cathedral in Sicily, in the southern part of the country, seriously injuring a man and a child. And though it didn’t cause any injuries, in 2012, a wall projection at Caserta Palace close to Naples fell just feet from onlooking tourists.
The Basilica di Santa Croce dates back to the 15th century—and it is monitored on a regular basis for safety purposes. In fact, the Opera di Santa Croce reports that the most recent check happened just one week ago. Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini, has said there will be an investigation into the exact cause of this accident—and whether or not a maintenance issue was to blame.