Experts today spoke of "incalculable" damage to Italy's cultural heritage as the scale of the impact of the L'Aquila earthquake on the area's historic buildings became apparent.

Many Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance buildings in the 13th-century city were badly damaged in Monday's tremor.

"The damage is more serious than we can imagine," said Giuseppe Proietti, a culture ministry official. "The historic center of L'Aquila has been devastated."

The transept of the early medieval basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, scene of the coronation of Pope Celestine in 1294 and renowned for its intricate pink and white stone facade, collapsed.

The cupola of another church, the Santa Maria del Suffragio, cracked open, revealing the stucco patterns inside its dome. Stones also fell from the city's cathedral, which was rebuilt in 1703 after an earthquake.

Proietti said the city's own cultural offices, housed in a 16th century Spanish castle, had had to close because of the damage, while Stefania Pezzopane, president of the Abruzzo province, described the damage as incalculable. "Entire buildings have collapsed, innumerable homes destroyed or rendered unsafe."

Churches and historic buildings in surrounding villages also suffered significant damage. The 14th century Tower of Medici, in the fortified village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, collapsed, as did the main altar of the baroque church of Sant'Angelo in the town of Celano, seat of the lords who ruled the area in the Middle Ages.

The quake badly damaged the facade of the church of Sant'Agostino in Teramo, shifted a bell tower at the convent of San Domenico and brought down the ceiling of the church of Poggio Cono.

Damage was reported as far away as Rome, with minor cracks at the thermal baths built in the 3rd century by Emperor Caracalla, Prioietti said. Culture officials have requested €30m (£27m) for emergency works to shore up the most important architectural treasures.

Giorgio Croci, a Rome-based engineer and expert on ancient monuments, said the methods employed by medieval architects were a key factor in the region's damage. While ancient Roman and Renaissance builders used high-quality stone, in the medieval era builders often skimped on the quality of their materials, he said, meaning monuments from that period were less likely to stand in the event of a quake. "If you live in an ancient building, you have to employ a policy of prevention," Croci said.