ABSTRACT
The small town of Goriano Sicoli represents a typical example of historical urban center belonging to L’Aquila district, which was severely stricken by the 2009 seismic event. One of the most interesting building in the village is surely the church of St. Gemma, which due to both architectonic and structural features, can be considered as a representative sample of a wide population of churches erected in the same regional area in the last ten centuries. As proven by this earthquake, such churches are very vulnerable; in addition, they are characterized by a complex structural response that can be interpreted by properly accounting also for the stratifications carried out after the seismic event of the pasts. Therefore, specific retrofitting strategies to be implemented for their conservation should be defined.
