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Alta Valle Intelvi: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Alta Valle Intelvi

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 Alessandro Volta 1, Alta Valle Intelvi.

Alta Valle Intelvi, between two lakes on the Swiss border

Alta Valle Intelvi is a young municipality: it was created in 2017 by merging Lanzo d'Intelvi, Pellio Intelvi and Ramponio Verna, in the upper Val d'Intelvi. The valley lies in the mountains between Lake Como and Lake Lugano, and the municipal area reaches the border with Switzerland. It has long been a holiday area for people from Milan and Como, with woods, meadows and villages halfway up the mountains.

Buyers find second homes, period villas, flats in small holiday blocks and village houses in the various hamlets. Some residents work across the border in the canton of Ticino, which partly explains why incomes declared in Italy are well below the Como average. The roads are mountain roads and snow is normal in winter. On the slopes the report checks the official landslide maps for the address.

The municipality is growing: Istat, the national statistics office, counted 3,149 residents in 2023, up 11.1% since 2011 (the figure combines the three original municipalities). The average age is 47.7, against 46.3 for the province, and foreign nationals make up 9.3%.

Seismic risk is the lowest: zone 4 in the Civil Protection classification, expected ground acceleration 0.039 g. For a holiday home that has been closed for a long time, what matters most is the roof, damp, insulation and heating, since winters at this height are long.

Key points

  • Created in 2017 by merging three Val d'Intelvi villages.
  • Between Lake Como and Lake Lugano, on the Swiss border.
  • Up 11.1% since 2011, foreigners at 9.3%.
  • Seismic zone 4, the lowest.

Overview

Alta Valle Intelvi is a municipality in the province of Como, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 3,149 residents, ranked 60 of 147 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Alta Valle Intelvi is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 147 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.039 g, a low value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 11.1%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 9.3% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Alta Valle Intelvi declared an average taxable income of 19,875 euros, below the provincial average (26,761 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Alta Valle Intelvi is in climate zone F, with 3,358 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 907 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Alta Valle Intelvi has 4 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 healthcare facilities and 3 sports facilities.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.5 per 1,000 residents.

Public transport

The open timetables available for the area do not list any stops within the territory of Alta Valle Intelvi.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 5.9% of the land in Alta Valle Intelvi, compared with 12.3% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Alta Valle Intelvi is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Lombardia in 2023. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. 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 open contaminated sites in Alta Valle Intelvi; 2 have been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Alta Valle Intelvi: 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 Alta Valle Intelvi 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 23 inhabited census areas in Alta Valle Intelvi. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 90.7%
  • good 9.3%

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 013253. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.