The Domitilla catacombs are named after a member of the Roman family who commissioned the burial grounds. They form the largest burial sites in Rome, stretching over 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) and descending four levels with 26,250 tombs, dating from the second to the fifth centuries.

Today, the Domitilla catacombs are situated in a modern residential area in suburban Rome, at the Via delle Sette Chiese. "In Rome, Christendom started to spread out from the outskirts of the city," explains Ortwin Dally, director of the German archaeological Institute.

Dally is referring to an entire network of catacombs underneath arterial roads like the Via Appia. Because Christians, compared to other Romans, chose to be buried in close proximity to saints, the catacombs were also used as sacred places.

"These tombs represent the roots of our deepest identity, the roots of Rome and of Christianity," says Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the head of the pontifical commission. Monsignor Giovanni Carru of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Art, who sponsored the renovation works adds: "These works show the difficult path the Romans walked on the way to their new faith."

The now-renovated areas include frescoes from both pagan mythology and Christian faith, showing how intertwined the two were in the early Church. The new area also includes a small museum displaying statues, parts of sarcophagi and other artifacts from the tombs.

The first area dates back to the third century and still has many references to pagan art. Its tombs show details with cupids, which were used for the smaller tombs, most likely belonging to children. Many of the crypts have frescoes that seem blotted out. In fact, they were stripped by "ripping," when catacombs were looted and frescoes cut out and removed as trophies in the Middle Ages.

In the second area, known as the "Dei fornai," the "room of the bakers," vivid depictions of Christ and the Apostles accompanied by scenes from the life of a baker are shown. Not only do they tell the story of life in Rome, but they highlight the importance of bread in both Christian and pagan symbolism.

The small museum by the Domitilla catacombs showcases how Roman and early Christian art developed parallel to each other. "Christendom didn't invent anything from scratch, but reinterpreted existing forms of art instead," Ortwin Dally points out.

Final touches still have to be put on the museum, which the organizers hope to open to the public by the end of June. It will be several months longer before the restored areas are opened. In the meantime, the rest of the vast archaeological site is open to visitors throughout the summer.

After a devastating series of earthquakes in 2016, Italy's art police - the "Blue Helmets" - are collecting and cataloging buried ecclesiastical artifacts such as battered crucifixes, cracked frescoes or broken columns from local churches, and handing them to a team of restorers, archaeologists and historians.

A team of some 40 people made up of art police, firefighters, Culture Ministry officials, civil protection officers and volunteers remove items from a church in Visso, which dates back to the Middle Ages. Visso is located in the Italian region of Marche, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Ancona.

Visso has become a ghost town since locals abandoned their damaged homes after a series of earthquakes. A deadly tremor in August 2016 killed 300 people, and twin quakes caused further damage to buildings in October. "San Francesco di Visso was the oldest church in a region with invaluable treasures and no fewer than 483 churches," says Pierluigi Morricone from the Culture Ministry's crisis unit.

Italy's Carabinieri Art Squad, an expert force founded in 1969 that combats crimes involving art and antiquities and helps train art police in other countries, forms the backbone of the "Blue Helmets." "The priority is to save artworks, paintings, frescoes, relics, sculptures, statues, liturgical objects, candlesticks, crosses, thuribles," says Morricone.

Visso was founded in 907 AD and survived a sacking by Goths and looting during the Byzantine empire. Today the only people in sight are the "Blue Helmets." A museum director explains: "Six percent of the world's art heritage is in this region. Visso is a city of art; this is a tragedy. We have to save this territory, we cannot give up."

Italy, with its rich history of art going back to at least Etruscan times, has so many treasures that the state has difficulty taking care of them. The UN-backed task force is helping the country in this difficult mission.

A deal between Italy and UNESCO will see similar teams sent worldwide to salvage heritage sites devastated by conflict or natural disasters, with their first job expected to be in the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, once it is safe for them to enter.