Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Acquaformosa: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Acquaformosa

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 Roma 1, Acquaformosa.

Acquaformosa, an Arbëreshë village in the hills of Cosenza

Acquaformosa is one of Calabria's Arbëreshë villages, founded centuries ago by communities that came over from Albania. Arbëresh is still spoken here and the parish follows the Byzantine rite, under the Eparchy of Lungro. The village sits high in the hills, at around 750 metres, in the north of the province of Cosenza, in the Pollino area.

For work and services people go down the valley, where the A2 motorway runs, and on towards Castrovillari or Cosenza. Mountain roads make journeys longer, so if you plan to live here all year round, try the trip in winter.

The figures describe a village that has emptied out: 959 residents in 2023, 202 fewer than in 2011, a fall of 17.4%. Over-65s make up 30.7%, against 24.4% in the province of Cosenza, and the average age is 49.1. Foreign residents account for 10.8%. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.

Seismic risk needs to be taken seriously. Acquaformosa is in zone 2 in the Civil Protection classification, but the expected ground acceleration in the village, 0.246 g, is high; across the province 65 municipalities are in zone 1 and 85 in zone 2. For a house in the old centre, ask when it was built, what structural work has been done and how the walls are tied to the floors.

Houses here often lean against the hillside. The report measures the gradient and checks the official landslide maps for the exact address, and with the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) maps it goes from the street to the land parcel.

Key points

  • Arbëreshë village of Byzantine rite, high in the hills.
  • Population down 17.4% since 2011, over-65s at 30.7%.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected ground acceleration 0.246 g.
  • Hillside homes: check slope and landslide maps.

Overview

Acquaformosa is a municipality in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria. At the end of 2023 it had 959 residents, ranked 122 of 150 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Acquaformosa is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (85 of 150) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.246 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Acquaformosa, 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 17.4%. The estimated average age is 49 years, higher than the province average (46). 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 10.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Acquaformosa declared an average taxable income of 15,374 euros, below the provincial average (18,237 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Acquaformosa is in climate zone E, with 2,314 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 756 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Acquaformosa has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 grocery shops and supermarkets.

The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 per 1,000 residents.

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 1.9% of the land in Acquaformosa, compared with 4.4% in the province and 5.1% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Acquaformosa.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Acquaformosa: 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 Acquaformosa 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 6 inhabited census areas in Acquaformosa. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 61 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.1%
  • fair 99.9%

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 078001. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.