Palazzo Ducale in Parete: remarks on code provisions

The masonry have always been studied making reference to idealistic simplifications, that is to say basic and regular panels, made with homogenous techniques. To be realistic, getting to be confronted with a historical masonry of a centuries-old building, it is really difficult to apply the above said simplifications, the intriguing rules deduced from laboratory studies and also the numerical patterns more and more sophisticated. Below are some considerations made in reference to a specific case study: Palazzo Ducale in Parete, of Caserta province. In this palace, it was quite impossible to imagine a model which could faithfully reflect the masonry history of over a thousand years. Some extremely simplified approaches are able to provide information about the capacity of the structure. Furthermore results from nonlinear static analyses are presented. Indications on the congruence between codes rules and results from numerical analyses performed according to the Italian seismic code are supplied. The results show that generally imposing the best approach for the generic case could not be satisfying for the particular one.