Best practice of structural retrofit: the SS. Rosario Church in Gesualdo, Italy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of a total understanding of the manufacture, before approaching any structural intervention.Design/methodology/approach – The adopted methodology consists of a non‐invasive kind of structural retrofit, in accordance with the history of the manufacture and, at the same time, giving effective respect to seismic solicitations.Findings – The results are very important for demonstration purposes, and they may be taken as examples in many similar problems.Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this research principally consists in the old datation of the study case, because it could be approached more easily with the help of modern concepts.Practical implications – Many applications can be carried out from the study case: first, the respectful approach to the cultural heritage, in the sense of knowledge and understanding of the “art rule” belonging to the ancient constructors.Social implications – The paper has implications for the saf...