The experimental characterisation of externally bonded composite materials as strengthening solutions for masonry structures, such as basalt textile reinforced mortar (BTRM) or fiber reinforced concrete (FRC), has been receiving increasing attention due to their outstanding mechanical performance. Several studies have been demonstrated the efficiency of this retrofitting solution for increasing the mechanical strength and the displacement capacity of masonry material. 
In this critical review a state-of-art of the most relevant achievements in the experimental investigations and numerical analysis of retrofitted masonry wall have been discussed. Firstly, a detailed collection of several experimental tests using different textile reinforced mortar and/or fiber reinforced mortar was conducted. Special focus will be given to the test set-up and load configuration type adopted for experiments. Moreover, several modelling techniques have been treated in order to detect the best approach simulating the interaction between reinforcement system and masonry ranging from macro and micro modelling, concentrated and diffused plasticity model and diverse constitutive laws.