Seismic vulnerability and urban restyling in Catania’s 19th-century street levelling plan. The case study of Santissima Trinità monastery

This study addresses the issue of large urban transformations, focusing on the alterations that they have introduced into the image of the consolidated city and the constructive nature of historical buildings. These considerations are related to the transformations induced by 19th-century plan of Catania’s street leveling and focus on their impact on the Santissima Trinità monastery: a typical case of architectural and constructive transformation with repercussions on general seismic behavior. At the beginning of the 19th century, even in Catania, as in many other European cities, an urban redevelopment process in favor of public health started. It led to reorganize the road network, through many building alterations. The analysis of this plan and the observation of its effect on the monastery, led to suppose a seismic damage scenario and to design an intervention project to reduce the risks that it might actually take action.