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Barge: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Barge

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 Carle Costanzo 1, Barge.

Barge, below Mombracco among orchards and stone quarries

Barge sits where the plain around Saluzzo meets the first mountains, below Mombracco and not far from Monviso. The municipality covers a large and varied area: orchards on the plain, scattered hamlets on the hills, woods and quarries further up. Saluzzo is the local centre for schools and services, and Turin is about an hour's drive.

The quarries of Luserna stone, a rock that splits into slabs and is used for paving, steps and roofs, employ a large part of the town alongside fruit growing. The quarries also brought a sizeable foreign community, largely of Chinese origin, which is now a settled part of local life.

Buyers have plenty of choice: houses in the main village, farmhouses on the plain with land, and stone cottages in the hill hamlets. The cottages are cheap but need careful assessment, because roads, water supply, heating and winter access make all the difference.

Istat, the national statistics institute, counted 7,412 residents in 2023, down 5.7% on 2011. Foreign residents make up 17.8%, a higher share than the average for the province of Cuneo. The estimated average age (46.2) is in line with the province, over-65s make up 24.1%, and average incomes are below the provincial figure.

Barge is in seismic zone 3 in the classification of the Civil Protection Department (Protezione Civile), like 140 other municipalities in the province, but the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area, about 0.133 g, is high for that class: the Saluzzo and Pinerolo areas are among the most earthquake-prone parts of Piedmont. With a stone house in the hamlets, have the walls, floors and roof checked before you buy.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps and the report goes from the address to the plot. On the slopes and in the upland hamlets the official landslide maps are the ones to read; along the streams, the flood maps.

Key points

  • Below Mombracco, among orchards and Luserna stone quarries.
  • Foreign residents 17.8%; population down 5.7% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3, but expected acceleration about 0.133 g.
  • Cheap stone cottages: check access and structure first.

Overview

Barge is a municipality in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 7,412 residents, among the most populous in the province (13 of 247).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Barge is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 3S. Most municipalities in the province (141 of 247) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.133 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 5.7%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 17.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Barge declared an average taxable income of 21,306 euros, below the provincial average (24,913 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Barge is in climate zone E, with 2,776 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 372 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Barge has 8 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 10 grocery shops and supermarkets, 6 healthcare facilities and 3 sports facilities.

There are 1.3 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.8).

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 6.6% of the land in Barge, compared with 5.3% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.2 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Barge is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte 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 3 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Barge, and 2 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 Barge: 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 Barge 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 132 inhabited census areas in Barge. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 73 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 28.4%
  • good 49.2%
  • very good 22.4%

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 004012. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.