Soil-structure modeling and updating of the “Regina Montis Regalis” basilica at Vicoforte, Italy

The paper describes one of the most important structural health monitoring pro-gram in Italy, which started in 1983 for the conservation of the “Regina Montis Regalis” Ba-silica of Vicoforte. The Basilica is a building of great historical, architectural, and structural significance, owing its fame primarily to its big masonry elliptical dome, the world’s largest of this shape. The dome-drum system has suffered over the years from significant structural prob-lems, partly due to soil settlements, and, largely, arising from its bold structural configuration. The program is developed in coordination with national conservation institutions, considering Vicoforte Basilica as a notable case study for the application and assessment of the guidelines recently formulated at national and international level for the protection of cultural heritage in seismic regions. Currently, the program addresses the evaluation and reduction of the seismic risk of the monument. This paper reports the progresses achieved in the last years of monitoring and analysis of the structure. Past efforts (long term monitoring, non-linear FE masonry modelling and seismic input characterisation) were disseminated also in the previous SAHC editions (2006 and 2012). This time the paper describes the progress in the characterisation of the numerical model developed for the simulation of seismic response of the structure, by taking in account soil-struc-ture interaction and model updating on the basis of experimental modal analysis.