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Bienno: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Bienno

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 Crocedomini 1, Bienno.

Bienno, the forge village of the Val Camonica

For centuries Bienno worked iron. Water from the Grigna stream, diverted into the Vaso Re channel, drove the hammers of the forges, and some can still be visited. The village sits on a slope of the middle Val Camonica, at the mouth of the Valle Grigna, with a stone-built old centre full of alleys, carved doorways and tower houses, listed among the association of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Every summer its crafts fair draws visitors from across Lombardy.

The old centre has houses on several floors, often around inner courtyards with shared parts, sometimes in need of full renovation; on the edges and towards the valley floor there are newer detached houses and small blocks. In old houses, check the walls, timber floors, roofs and whether the division between owners is correctly recorded at the land registry. Brescia is reached by car along the valley road, and the railway to Brescia runs along the valley floor.

In 2023 there were 3,756 residents, down 5.1% since 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. The average age of 48.0 is above the 45.4 of the province of Brescia, and over-65s make up 28.3% against 22.8% in the province. Foreign residents account for 5.5%. Average declared incomes are below the provincial level.

Bienno is in seismic zone 3 of the Civil Protection classification, with an expected ground acceleration in the built-up area of about 0.083 g; across the province, 52 municipalities are in zone 2 and 153 in zone 3. With the town hall above 400 metres and climate zone E, winters are cold and heating is a real cost.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps. The village stands where the stream leaves its valley and the land climbs steeply towards the mountains, so the report checks slope and the landslide and flood maps for the address.

Key points

  • Forge village at the mouth of the Valle Grigna, Val Camonica.
  • 3,756 residents in 2023, over-65s at 28.3%.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.083 g.
  • Old-centre houses: check walls, floors and shared parts.

Overview

Bienno is a municipality in the province of Brescia, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 3,756 residents, ranked 99 of 205 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Bienno is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (153 of 205) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.083 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 5.1%. The estimated average age is 48 years, higher than the province average (45). 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 5.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Bienno declared an average taxable income of 23,804 euros, below the provincial average (26,155 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Bienno is in climate zone E, with 2,870 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 462 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Bienno has 5 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop, 2 healthcare facilities and 2 sports facilities.

There are 0.3 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.5).

Public transport

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

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 2.5% of the land in Bienno, compared with 10.5% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Bienno 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 contaminated sites in Bienno.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Bienno: 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 Bienno 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 Bienno. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 74 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 3.6%
  • good 96.4%

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 017018. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.