Rescue workers in quake-hit L'Aquila on Monday were celebrating after finding the National Museum of Abruzzo's famous prehistoric elephant skeleton intact.
The beautifully preserved skeleton of the Southern Elephant (Archidiskodon meridionalis), 4.5 meters high and nearly 7 meters long, was discovered near L'Aquila in 1954.
Workers have already removed 90% of works from the museum housed in the city's 16th-century Spanish Castle, which suffered structural damage in the April 6 quake that killed almost 300 and left thousands homeless.
One of the most important collections of wood sculptures in Italy as well as the museum's modern art collection were among works already taken to safety.
The museum is to be evacuated completely before work can begin on repairing damage, which includes the collapse of the building's third floor.
The Spanish government on Friday responded to an appeal to 'adopt' an artistic monument damaged in the quake by offering to fund the repair of the castle.
Foreign ministry sources said a group of Spanish experts will assess the damage at the castle, built by the army of Charles V (1500-1558) and considered one of the most beautiful built in Renaissance Italy.
The castle was designed by Spanish military architect Pirro Aloisio Escriva'.
