ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the results of the activities carried out on the restoration site of the Maniace Castle as part of the research agreement between the Superintendence Cultural Heritage bureau of Siracusa and the School of Architecture at University of Catania. It describes the design of an external prestressing steel system devoted to increase existing buttresses strength and seismic capacity of the Salone, starting from historical and constructional analyses and dealing with both analytical and technical aspects. The results of preliminary structural testing commissioned by the Superintendence and of the geometric survey, completed during the research, supplied useful information on the current structural flaws. The historical and geometrical survey along with the recognition of damages provides enough material to perform straightforward mechanics computations. Rigid block mechanisms under seismic actions have been investigated by kinematic analysis.
