Qualitative analysis of mechanical behavior and restoration proposal of churches with single nave in seismic territory

The study of historical buildings on material and constructive point of view allows to hypothesize, with good approximation, eventual criticality of their mechanical behaviors. By analysis of whole structural parts of building, it’s possible to give effective evaluations about its seismic vulnerability, or about potential activated linkages. The systematic observation of damages caused by earthquakes in Italian territory has underlined, from 1997, that seismic behavior of buildings, especially churches, is framed in a recurrent phenomenology. This paper would present a quick and qualitative evaluation of a building’s structural model, chosen like emblematic case, on which base the subsequent processing at the aim of proposing its structural and compatible restoration. The chosen building is a church belonging to Etna’s territory. It was damaged by an earthquake in 2008. This seism has underlined further the vulnerability of built heritage and, in particular, of churches. The use of FRP materials in structural restoration has allowed to obtain a good compromise between the need of ensuring people safety, with the safeguard of built heritage