ABSTRACT
The whole of Italy has to be considered as earthquake prone, while its historical cultural heritage is largely made up of masonry buildings. Thus, the evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry buildings is of fundamental importance, particularly with reference to typical historical buildings from XVI to XIX century. The use of non-linear analyses shows higher seismic capacity, though conditioned by the same problems of modelling which have to be dealt with to carry out linear analyses. It is worth noticing that the study of the seismic behaviour of an existing masonry structure is extremely difficult, even at the modelling stage. Indeed, any construction is generally complex both because of its own geometric configuration and the stratification of various building practices and techniques over time, making difficult the analysis of the behaviour of an ancient structure by using the structural model usually adopted for modern building.
