Seismic vulnerability of old Italian fortifications

The damages recorded in the recent seismic events have highlighted that also very robust structures, such as old castles, are vulnerable with respect to not too high seismic actions. However, the damages have allowed not only of understanding the structural behavior of these ancient old fortifications, but also the influence of many factors affecting the specific response. In this paper an overview of the most recent developments in the seismic assessment of Italian medieval castles is presented. The study discusses on the identification of the most vulnerable elements and on their analytical evaluation. Then, an application to an ancient castle chosen as case study is shown.