The refurbishment will allow the Minster to display many of its treasures, including papal seals and a Turner watercolour, to the public for the first time.
This is not the first time that the Louvre reaches out to the public to finance the acquisition of national treasures, and is planning to repeat this method at least once a year to complete various of its collections.
The ancient Omayyad Mosque, which like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the greatest treasuresof Islamic art, is a unique site that was once a church and a mosque at the same time.