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Cardinale: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Cardinale

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 Carlo Filangieri 4, Cardinale.

Cardinale, the Serre mountains in the Ancinale valley

Cardinale lies in the Serre, the wooded mountain range in central Calabria, in the southern part of Catanzaro province. The village sits on a slope of the Ancinale valley, surrounded by chestnut and beech woods, with the Ionian coast reached by heading down towards Soverato.

Anyone considering a house here will mainly find masonry buildings in the centre, multi-storey houses built along the slope and country homes. For offices, secondary schools and services people go to Chiaravalle Centrale, and for the hospital and work to Soverato and Catanzaro. The climate zone is D. Average incomes are lower than in the province.

The population has fallen a great deal: 1,794 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, 23.1% fewer than in 2011, or 540 people. The average age is 50.0 against 46.1 in the province, and over-65s make up 31.5%. Households have 2.00 members on average.

Cardinale is in seismic zone 1, the highest class, like 44 other municipalities in the province of Catanzaro, and the expected acceleration in the built-up area is 0.232 g. For an older masonry or reinforced concrete house, get a structural survey before signing, and look into the incentives for seismic upgrading.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps. The report finds the land parcel from the address and adds slope, elevation and the official landslide and flood maps.

Key points

  • Municipality in the Serre mountains, in the Ancinale valley.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration 0.232 g.
  • Population down 23.1% since 2011.
  • A structural survey is advisable before buying.

Overview

Cardinale is a municipality in the province of Catanzaro, in Calabria. At the end of 2023 it had 1,794 residents, ranked 42 of 80 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Cardinale is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (45 of 80) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.232 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Cardinale, 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 23.1%. The estimated average age is 50 years, higher than the province average (46). 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 0.9% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Cardinale declared an average taxable income of 14,103 euros, below the provincial average (19,667 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Cardinale is in climate zone D, with 1,840 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 562 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Cardinale has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy.

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 3.7% of the land in Cardinale, compared with 6.6% 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 no contaminated sites in Cardinale.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Cardinale: 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 Cardinale 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 11 inhabited census areas in Cardinale. 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 079018. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.