Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Barga: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Barga

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 della Repubblica 1, Barga.

Barga, a hilltop cathedral above the Serchio valley

From the cathedral at the top of Barga you look out on the Apuan Alps on one side and the Apennines on the other, with the Serchio valley between them. The old town, compact and steep, stands at about four hundred metres; further down, along the river, is Fornaci di Barga, one of the most populous hamlets, flatter and grown up around local industry.

Barga has close ties with Scotland: in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries many local families emigrated to Glasgow and the surrounding area, and the town is still known as the most Scottish town in Italy. In Castelvecchio Pascoli, one of its hamlets, stands the house where the poet Giovanni Pascoli lived.

Buyers choose between the uphill life of the old town, in period houses with stairs and little parking, and the valley-floor hamlets, easier by car and for the Lucca to Aulla railway. The hills also have many second homes. Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 9,462 residents in 2023, down 6.5% on 2011; the average age is 48.8 and over-65s make up 28.8%, compared with 26.8% in the province of Lucca. Foreign nationals account for 9.5%.

The Garfagnana and the middle Serchio valley are among the most earthquake-prone parts of Tuscany. The Civil Protection Department places Barga in zone 2, like 22 of the province's 33 municipalities, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.196 g. For a stone house in the old town, ask what strengthening work has been done and get the paperwork.

On the slopes, landslide risk should be checked at the address; in Fornaci and the low ground near the Serchio, look at the flood maps. The report does both and uses the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps to reach the plot.

Key points

  • Old town at about four hundred metres, hamlets on the valley floor.
  • Italy's most Scottish town, with Pascoli's house at Castelvecchio.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.196 g.
  • Over-65s at 28.8%, above the provincial average.

Overview

Barga is a municipality in the province of Lucca, in Toscana. At the end of 2023 it had 9,462 residents, ranked 9 of 33 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Barga is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (22 of 33) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.196 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Barga, 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 6.5%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 9.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Barga declared an average taxable income of 23,809 euros, in line with the province (24,903 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Barga is in climate zone E, with 2,536 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 410 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Barga has 11 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 6 healthcare facilities, 8 sports facilities and 2 parks and green areas.

There are 1.2 schools per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.9).

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 7.4% of the land in Barga, compared with 9.2% in the province and 6.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.7 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Barga is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Toscana in 2025. 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 8 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Barga, and 5 more have been cleaned up or closed. 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 Barga: 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 Barga 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 108 inhabited census areas in Barga. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 58 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 10.3%
  • fair 68.2%
  • good 21.6%

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 046003. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.