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Barrea: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Barrea

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 Sarentina 1, Barrea.

Barrea, above the lake in the upper Sangro valley

Barrea's houses sit on a rocky spur above the lake that shares the village's name, a reservoir created by damming the river Sangro high up its valley. All around is the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, with beech woods and mountains that keep their snow well into the winter. This is a place for holidays and walking rather than commuting: for a hospital, secondary schools or offices you drive, on mountain roads.

Most homes for sale are stone buildings in the old village, often on several levels and reached by steps, plus flats used as summer second homes. Ground conditions change a lot between the edge of the spur and the lake shore, so landslide and flood hazard are read for the individual address, together with elevation and slope, on the official maps the report checks.

In 2023 Istat, the national statistics institute, counted 704 residents, 22 fewer than the 726 of 2011 (down 3.0%). The average age is 50.4 against 47.5 for the province of L'Aquila, and over-65s make up 33.7%. There are 21.31 bars and restaurants per 1,000 residents, against 6.53 in the province, a figure driven by visitors rather than locals. Average declared income is below the provincial level.

Earthquakes need to be taken seriously here. Barrea is in seismic zone 1 in the Civil Protection (Protezione Civile) classification, like 102 other municipalities in the province, and the expected ground acceleration in the village is about 0.265 g. With a stone-walled house, ask what seismic upgrading has been done and under which permits, and have an engineer check how walls, floors and roof are tied together.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps for Barrea, so the report can trace an address to its land parcel and building.

Key points

  • Village above Lake Barrea, inside the Abruzzo National Park.
  • 704 residents, down 3.0% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration about 0.265 g.
  • Bars and restaurants: 21.31 per 1,000 residents.

Overview

Barrea is a municipality in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo. At the end of 2023 it had 704 residents, ranked 64 of 108 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Barrea is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (103 of 108) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.265 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Barrea, 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 3.0%. The estimated average age is 50 years, higher than the province average (48). 34% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 3.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Barrea declared an average taxable income of 18,091 euros, below the provincial average (22,903 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Barrea has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 green area.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.7 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 0.5% of the land in Barrea, compared with 3.2% 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 Barrea.

Landslides and flooding

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

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

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 066010. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.