ANTI-SEISMIC CONCEPTS IN VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE OF THE VESUVIAN MASSERIE

The first agricultural settlements on the slopes of Vesuvius date back to the 1st century BC, coinciding with the Roman colonisation of the territory. However, it was between the 11th and 12th centuries that these settlements gradually consolidated their typological and constructional characteristics, giving rise to a complex and lasting settlement system. The history of the Vesuvian Masserie is therefore a complex and layered process, constantly influenced by the imposing presence of the volcano, whose latent threat has had a significant impact on the structural organisation of the buildings and the way of life of their inhabitants. The research lays the foundations for the study of Vesuvian farmhouses in relation to seismic risk, highlighting how the concept of “earthquake-proof construction,” although achieved through empirical practices, was already present in embryonic form in the construction techniques used at the time.