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Bisignano: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Bisignano

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 Moccone 1, Bisignano.

Bisignano, hilltop quarters above the Crati valley

Bisignano sits on a rise above the Crati valley, north of Cosenza, its old town split into quarters that run down the sides of the hill. It has a craft tradition known well beyond Calabria: lute and guitar making, carried on here by a few families for generations. It is also the home town of Saint Umile, a Franciscan friar much venerated locally.

The contrasts matter for buyers. The old town has stone houses built against one another, narrow steep lanes and many homes in need of renovation; the newer areas and the part towards the valley are easier by car and closer to the A2 motorway, which follows the Crati. Cosenza, with its university and hospitals, is the city people look to.

The population is falling. Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 9,480 residents in 2023, down 8.3% on 2011, or 855 fewer people. The average age of 45.0 is below the provincial 46.1; over-65s make up 22.9% and foreign nationals 4.5%. Incomes are low even by the standards of the province of Cosenza.

Earthquakes are the main issue. The Civil Protection Department places Bisignano in seismic zone 1, the most hazardous, like 65 municipalities in the province, with the other 85 in zone 2. Expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.275 g, among the highest values in Italy, and the Crati valley has had strong earthquakes in past centuries. For a masonry house in the old town, a structural survey is the first cost to budget for; for a reinforced concrete building, ask for the design year and structural sign-off.

On the hillsides landslide risk varies from spot to spot, and the report reads it at the address. The Revenue Agency's cadastral maps are published, so the plot can be identified.

Key points

  • Town of lute makers, on a hill above the Crati valley.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration about 0.275 g.
  • Population down 8.3% since 2011.
  • Sloping old town: structural survey and landslide check first.

Overview

Bisignano is a municipality in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria. At the end of 2023 it had 9,480 residents, among the most populous in the province (13 of 150).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Bisignano is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. Only 65 of 150 municipalities in the province are in zone 1.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.275 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Bisignano, 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 8.3%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 4.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Bisignano declared an average taxable income of 15,933 euros, below the provincial average (18,237 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Bisignano is in climate zone D, with 1,523 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 350 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Bisignano has 13 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 7 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities and 4 sports facilities.

There are 0.2 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.6).

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 6.4% of the land in Bisignano, compared with 4.4% 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 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Bisignano, and one more has 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 Bisignano: 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 Bisignano 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 88 inhabited census areas in Bisignano. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 56 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 13.8%
  • fair 86.2%

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 078017. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.