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Alife: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Alife

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 3, Alife.

Alife, Roman walls on the Volturno plain below the Matese

Alife has kept something rare: the almost complete circuit of walls of the Roman town of Allifae, a rectangle of straight streets within which the historic centre still lives. Beneath the town you can also visit a Roman cryptoporticus, a vaulted underground gallery. All around lies the Volturno plain, in the northern part of the province of Caserta, closed off to the north by the Matese mountains.

This is farming country with small towns, well away from the urban sprawl between Caserta and Naples. Piedimonte Matese, which borders Alife, is where many services are; Caserta is about forty-five minutes by car. Buyers find houses within the walls, often stone-built and needing restoration, and newer homes in the surrounding countryside, with gardens and space at prices well below those near the coast.

Istat, the national statistics institute, counted 7,389 residents in 2023, down 3.5% on 2011. The estimated average age is 44.6, higher than the province of Caserta (43.1), over-65s make up 21.0% and foreign residents 3.0%. Average incomes are below the provincial figure.

The Matese is one of the most earthquake-prone areas in Campania. The Civil Protection Department (Protezione Civile) places Alife in zone 2, like 96 of the 104 municipalities in the province, but with an expected ground acceleration in the built-up area of about 0.228 g, high even for that class. For a stone house within the walls, have an engineer assess how walls, floors and roof are tied together; for a reinforced-concrete building, ask for the structural test certificate and drawings, and if you renovate, budget for seismic strengthening.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps and the report goes from the address to the plot. On the plain between the Volturno and the streams running off the Matese, flood hazard is checked for the individual address.

Key points

  • The Roman walls of Allifae still frame the historic centre.
  • Population down 3.5% since 2011; average age 44.6.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.228 g.
  • Volturno plain below the Matese, far from the urban sprawl.

Overview

Alife is a municipality in the province of Caserta, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 7,389 residents, ranked 40 of 104 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Alife is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (96 of 104) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.228 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Alife, 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 3.5%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 21% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 3.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Alife declared an average taxable income of 18,011 euros, below the provincial average (20,073 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Alife is in climate zone C, with 1,263 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 110 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Alife has 8 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 9 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities, 3 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.3 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer 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 7.1% of the land in Alife, compared with 10.5% in the province and 10.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.0 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Alife. The report tells you whether one is close to the address.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Alife: 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 Alife 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 60 inhabited census areas in Alife. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 1.4%
  • fair 54.5%
  • good 44.1%

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 061002. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.