The structural response of unreinforced masonry buildings designed for gravity load only or with reference to obsolete seismic provisions is widely studied in the literature in order to define proper strengthening strategies and solution to mitigate the seismic risk. However, the critical analysis of the effectiveness of past used strengthening solution is still lacking. To fill such gap, the present study deals with the evaluation of the seismic performances of buildings in the historical

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... e of Norcia and Campi Alto struck by the 2016 central Italy seismic sequence. A large part of these buildings was strengthened between 1980 and 2000 during the reconstruction processes following previous earthquakes occurred in 1979 and 1997. The strengthened buildings in Norcia reported limited damage while a significant and widespread level of damage was detected on several strengthened buildings in the hamlet of Campi Alto. The study focuses on such latter aspect with the aim of investigating on the reasons of such unsatisfactory behaviour. Thus, a comparison between seismic action experienced by buildings in Norcia and Campi Alto is initially analysed along with the evaluation of the main vulnerabilities of these buildings. Then, 20 projects of strengthening interventions submitted to the Civil Engineering Department of the Umbria Region between 1984 and 2012 have been herein analysed and discussed in order to focus on the effectiveness of the strengthening solution adopted in the past. The analyses of such projects and of the empirical damage detected after the 2016 seismic sequence is a unique opportunity to derive useful information for future applications.