Architettura vernacolare e culture sismiche locali in Toscana/Vernacular architecture and local seismic cultures in Tuscany

The concept of local seismic cultures is based on a widely verified principle: among sedentary populations living in areas with a long seismic tradition, buildings are realized with special anti-seismic precautions, differing from culture to culture but all having the same objective in common: to prevent the immediate and total collapse in case of earthquake. Studies of local seismic cultures in Tuscany, a region with significant seismic activity, especially in the north-eastern Apennines (Garfagnana, Lunigiana, Mugello, Valtiberina), the central coastal area (Livorno Hills, Colline Metallifere) and to south of Mount Amiata, get to identify vernacular building techniques and materials with a function of defense against earthquakes. The resident populations are authors of their specific seismic culture which has given rise to constructive rules, which  while uncodified and unwritten  are still legible in the morphology and structural features of buildings.