Switzerland is a country rich in monumental buildings of national and international importance. Amongst them, there are treasures like Romanesque churches (Romainmotier) and Gothic cathedrals (cathedral of Lausanne, Baroque edifices (abbey of Einsiedeln). Even though Switzerland is in a region with moderate seismicity, many of these buildings have experienced seismic events and have been moderately, or even seriously damaged. For instance, the city of Basel was almost completely destroyed in 1356 following the most violent earthquake (according to historical sources) that occurred in Central Europe. Although the seismic safety of common buildings is well defined through modern building codes, the seismic vulnerability of monumental edifices has been only partially dealt with in Switzerland. In order to fill this gap, a national research program was initiated few years ago, whose main purpose is to develop a methodology that allows us to assess the seismic vulnerability of monumental edifices. Besides addressing topics such as seismic hazard in Switzerland, this paper deals with the structural behaviour of an edifice through simplified calculation methods. The cathedral of Sion has been chosen since it is situated in Valais, which is the zone with the higher seismic hazard in Switzerland.
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