Traces of history in the semi-abandoned villages hit by an earthquake: elements for a conscious restoration

Where then is the acclaimed Italian primacy, if we really want to look for it? It is not in quantity (elusive: the data does not exist) but in quality (S. Settis). In recent years there has been a growing interest in cultural heritage, of which Italy is rich. The villages, in particular, represent one of the fundamental elements of this cultural heritage. The article focuses mainly on abandoned or semi-abandoned villages as a result of an earthquake. Specifically, the study focused attention on the villages in the area south of L'Aquila. The issue of the abandonment of ancient villages, in this context, is closely related to the possibility or not of guaranteeing their safe use; only by achieving this last goal is their conservation possible. Securing the structures of the village is therefore an indispensable premise for use; the use, on the other hand, is a condition for the material conservation of the village itself. This last step, however, is not obvious; in order to achieve good material conservation, detailed knowledge and some caution are required. There are in fact specificities and peculiarities that need to be taken into consideration in the analysis of these villages. Which elements are also important for an effective static analysis of the walls and what changes if they are individual parts of autonomous building units or if they are parts of structures linked to each other? What elements are useful for a good understanding of the collapse mechanisms of masonry? And what elements of good historical practices are to be taken into consideration for a real conservation of the material consistency of these villages? Is it possible to combine static safety, good use and fruition with the conservation of the villages themselves? These are some of the questions that we tried to answer with a first research started following the earthquake of 6 April 2009 in L'Aquila carried out by the research units of the Faculty of Architecture of Syracuse, the University of Genoa and the CNR. -ITC and continued in subsequent years. In particular, in this article we want to deepen the role that the high archaeological analysis had (horizontal and vertical stratigraphic analysis of individual buildings, analysis of masonry techniques, mineralogical petrographic analysis of mortars) applied to the walls of the various units of the village. This analysis proved to be extremely useful as it highlighted the different phases of construction, abandonment and partial reconstructions which also occurred at different times and as a result of different seismic events that occurred over the centuries in these areas. This was useful not only for a good understanding of historical events but also for the structural analysis of the walls themselves, highlighting the criticalities and weaknesses of the structures and thus allowing a more conscious drafting of the guidelines drawn up for their material conservation.