Current Italian law concerning seismic risk assessment and reduction is at an advanced stage regarding cultural heritage but is minimally applied in
private buildings. Multidisciplinary studies have continuously remarked how the vulnerability of historic masonry-aggregate constructions
increases due to many causes other than degradation and damage, such as their intrinsic characteristics, including, stratified development,
continuity of use, state of abandonment or absence of maintenance. Due to their problematic and often unpredictable behaviour during an
earthquake, aggregate buildings are not frequently tested and there is a lack of appropriate instruments for their interpretation. There is a need,
firstly, to invest more in studies to produce models similar to reality and secondly, to make trustworthy interpretations and predictions on
behaviour and damage in the case of an earthquake. The current research focused on the proposal for a simplified method concerning seismic
vulnerability assessment of aggregated buildings in historical centres. The final purpose is to support local administrations and/or owners of the
buildings in strategic decision making, to define priority lists regarding structures more in need of specific analysis and, potentially, of focused
interventions. The experiment was undertaken in Civita di Bagnoregio (Viterbo), a historical centre which was gradually abandoned due to
earthquakes and hydrogeological instability.
