Preliminary Assessment of the Structural Response of the Holy Tomb of Christ Under Static and Seismic Loading

Abstract

The complex structure that houses the Holy Tomb of Christ, the so called Holy Aedicule, in the Most Holy Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem has been imposed to considerable damage and structural reformations during its long history. Before the most recent rehabilitation works performed between 2016 and 2017 by the interdisciplinary team of the National Technical University of Athens, the Holy Aedicule has been reconstructed in 1810; however, no later than the first half of the 20th century, a supporting structure was placed at the monument in order to prevent it from further damage. Extensive structural and non-structural damages in recent years, have led to the urgent need for rehabilitation measures. This paper provides a first stage evaluation of the initial condition of the Holy Aedicule under static and seismic loading. This assessment is a part of the series of studies that preceded the rehabilitation works that were performed by the interdisciplinary team of the National Technical University of Athens, completed in March 2017. Based on this initial evaluation a retrofit scheme was applied in order to eliminate the weaknesses of the bearing structure.