Castel San Giovanni: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Castel San Giovanni
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: Corso Giacomo Matteotti 1, Castel San Giovanni.
Castel San Giovanni, logistics on the Lombardy border
On the border with Lombardy, where the Piacenza plain meets the Oltrepò Pavese hills, Castel San Giovanni lies between the Po to the north and the first slopes of the Val Tidone to the south. Piacenza is about twenty kilometres to the east.
Over the last fifteen years the town has been reshaped by logistics. Around the A21 motorway junction and along the railway towards Voghera and Piacenza, large warehouses have gone up, one of them an Amazon distribution centre, and they have brought in workers from elsewhere. The figures show it: 14,139 residents in 2023, up 3.7% since 2011, an average age of 44.5 against 46.7 for the province, and foreign residents at 24.0%, a high share even for Emilia. Average income is a little below the provincial figure.
Buyers will mostly find detached houses, villas and 1960s and 1970s blocks around the centre, at lower prices than in Piacenza. One thing to watch is lorry traffic: the roads serving the logistics hubs can be busy at night too, and a street that feels quiet on a Sunday may be less so on a Monday. It is worth going back to see the area on a weekday.
Seismic hazard in the Piacenza area is moderate and the same everywhere: all 46 municipalities in the province are in zone 3 of the national classification. Here the expected ground acceleration is about 0.094 g. For a 1970s house, find out whether the roof and floors have been redone, with what materials, and whether the wiring meets current rules.
Towards the Po and along the streams coming down from the Val Tidone, flood hazard changes a great deal from one street to the next, and the report reads it for the specific address.
Key points
- Plain on the Oltrepò Pavese border, with an A21 junction.
- Foreign residents at 24.0%; population growing since 2011.
- Every municipality in the province in seismic zone 3.
- Warehouses and lorries: visit the street on a weekday.
Overview
Castel San Giovanni is a municipality in the province of Piacenza, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 14,139 residents, the third most populous in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castel San Giovanni is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. All 46 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.094 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 grown by 3.7%. The estimated average age is 45 years, lower than the province average (47). 22% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 24.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castel San Giovanni declared an average taxable income of 25,418 euros, below the provincial average (26,934 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Castel San Giovanni is in climate zone E, with 2,552 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 74 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castel San Giovanni has 7 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 14 grocery shops and supermarkets, 12 healthcare facilities and 17 sports facilities.
There are 0.5 schools per 1,000 residents, fewer 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 18.1% of the land in Castel San Giovanni, compared with 7.7% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.3 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
Castel San Giovanni is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Emilia-Romagna in 2026. 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 Castel San Giovanni. 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 Castel San Giovanni: 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 Castel San Giovanni 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 95 inhabited census areas in Castel San Giovanni. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 0.9%
- fair 38.5%
- good 43.4%
- very good 17.2%
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
- Seismic classification of municipalities, Dipartimento della Protezione Civile. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 2025-05.
- MPS04 seismic hazard model, INGV. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2004 model.
- Data by census section, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, residents at the end of 2023, compared with the 2011 census.
- Places, Overture Maps Foundation. Licence CDLA Permissive 2.0 and others depending on provider, release 2026-10-21.0.
- Income and main IRPEF variables by municipality, MEF, Dipartimento delle Finanze. Licence CC BY 3.0 IT, tax year 2024.
- Climate zones and heating degree days of municipalities (Presidential Decree 412/1993, Annex A), Normattiva. Licence CC BY 4.0, current text.
- Land take, territorial dynamics and ecosystem services, ISPRA e SNPA. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2024 data.
- Predictive radon map by municipality, ISPRA. Licence CC BY 4.0, version 2022-11.
- Radon priority areas (Legislative Decree 101/2020), Regione Emilia-Romagna, national list compiled by ARPA Lombardia. Licence Atto pubblico (art. 5 L. 633/1941), 2026.
- Contaminated sites, ISPRA, MOSAICO - Banca dati nazionale dei siti oggetto di procedimento di bonifica. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 12 November 2026.
- Liveability index by census area, Vicinalia, from the data in the report sections. Licence CC BY-SA 4.0, worked out on 30 September 2026.
- List of Italian municipalities, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 21 February 2026.
ISTAT code 033013. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.