The bell tower of S. Maria church in San Miniato: an attempt of integrated methodology of analysis

Evaluating the mechanical behaviour and structural safety of historical masonry constructions still poses a number of difficulties. Despite the issue’s importance and the considerable effort devoted to resolve it, to date, it has yet to emerge a truly shared, general methodology to enable arriving at satisfactory characteriza- tion of the mechanics of historical masonries. The different test methods generally employed can investigate either the local state and behaviour of the masonry (flat jack tests, diagonal compression tests, etc.), or the overall, global response of a structure (dynamic monitoring). Thus, it may be of some interest to study possi- ble integrated uses of the different characterization methods, respectively based on local and global experi- mental testing methods. The present paper provides a description and critical analysis of a series of static and dynamic experimental tests carried out on the Tower of Matilde, the bell tower of the church of Santa Maria in San Miniato (Pisa).