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Acireale: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Catania, Sicilia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Acireale

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Via Nazionale Guardia 1, Acireale.

Acireale, the Timpa cliff, baroque streets and seaside hamlets

Acireale stands on a broad lava terrace high above the Ionian Sea, the Timpa, with Etna behind it. The baroque centre, rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, has the cathedral, the basilica of San Sebastiano and squares that fill up at Carnival for the parade of allegorical floats, one of the best known in Sicily. Catania is close, via the A18 motorway and the railway to Messina, which stops in town.

Below the Timpa lie the seaside hamlets, such as Santa Maria La Scala, Capo Mulini, Stazzo and Pozzillo: small fishing villages with plenty of holiday homes. Towards Etna the rural hamlets climb through lemon groves and vineyards. Between town and sea the drops are steep and the roads narrow, so for homes on the coast, access and parking matter a lot.

Acireale had 50,505 residents at the end of 2023, 1.8% fewer than in 2011, and only Catania is larger in the province. The average age of 45.5 is above the provincial 44.2, and foreign residents make up 3.2%. Schools are denser than elsewhere in the province: 63 education sites, 1.25 per 1,000 residents against 0.93.

Earthquakes here have two sources: the major shocks of eastern Sicily, like the one in 1693, and shallow quakes linked to Etna, which do heavy damage over small areas. The Timpa itself is a fault scarp. Acireale is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection map, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.217 g, a high value, and 4 municipalities in the province are in zone 1. For any home built before recent standards, ask for structural surveys and records of work done.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the land registry and the report finds the plot from the address. On the edge of the Timpa and along the gullies running down to the sea, landslide hazard depends on the exact spot.

Key points

  • Baroque centre on the Timpa, seaside hamlets below the cliff.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.217 g.
  • 50,505 residents, down 1.8% since 2011.
  • More schools than the provincial rate: 1.25 per 1,000 residents.

Overview

Acireale is a municipality in the province of Catania, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 50,505 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Acireale is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (54 of 58) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.217 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Acireale, the building matters a great deal: ask for the design year, whether it met the 2008 seismic standards, and whether any seismic retrofit has been carried out.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 1.8%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 3.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Acireale declared an average taxable income of 21,401 euros, in line with the province (20,793 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Acireale is in climate zone C, with 978 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 161 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Acireale has 63 schools and 16 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 37 grocery shops and supermarkets, 40 healthcare facilities, 53 sports facilities and 7 parks and green areas.

There are 0.7 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.5).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 26.5% of the land in Acireale, compared with 8.0% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.3 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no open contaminated sites in Acireale; 3 have been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Acireale: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Acireale are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 156 inhabited census areas in Acireale. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 73 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.0%
  • fair 14.0%
  • good 52.8%
  • very good 33.2%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 087004. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.