Integrated Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Historical Masonry Churches Including Architectural and Artistic Assets Based on Macro-element Approach

Masonry churches represent a significant construction typology at risk from earthquakes, as clearly shown by recent seismic events. For a quick assessment of the vulnerability of historical churches, a very effective method is the well-known form for the evaluation of damage and vulnerability based the macro-element approach. Anyway, in the calculation of the vulnerability index of the method intangible aspects related to architectural, historical and artistic value are not included. This paper proposes a procedure that combines the above-mentioned vulnerability analysis with the evaluation of architectural and artistic assets such as frescoes, statues and paintings, by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process. A site test, involving eight churches in Valencia (Spain) and Tuscany (Italy) regions, shows how important it is to provide a complete overview of a church’s structural condition that includes its artworks in order to create a priority scale for the assessment, retrofitting and protection of existing masonry churches.