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Castellana Grotte: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Castellana Grotte

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 Alberobello 2, Castellana Grotte.

Castellana Grotte, the town above the Murge caves

The name comes from the caves. Beneath the countryside just outside the town lies one of the most visited cave systems in Italy, first explored in 1938, which draws visitors all year round. The town stands on the south-eastern Murge plateau at around three hundred metres, between Bari and the Itria valley, in a landscape of dry-stone walls, old farmhouses and the odd trullo scattered among the rural districts (contrade).

Tourism matters, but Castellana is above all a place where people live, with a compact old centre, a modern town around it and many country houses. Anyone looking at a house in the contrade should check road access, connection to mains water and sewers, and whether the building is fully authorised, none of which can be taken for granted outside the centre.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 19,675 residents in 2023, up 1.7% since 2011, while several nearby towns are losing population. The average age (46.0) and the share of over-65s (23.5%) are close to the Bari metropolitan area; foreign residents make up 3.3%. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.

Shopping is easy, with 19 supermarkets, 0.97 per 1,000 residents against 0.58 in the province. There are 115 cafés and restaurants, partly thanks to cave visitors.

For earthquakes this is one of the quietest areas in southern Italy: zone 4, like 6 other municipalities around Bari, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.060 g. The ground below deserves more thought. On a limestone plateau full of cavities, sinkholes can open, and hollows in the land collect storm water. The report reads the official landslide and flood maps for the address and uses the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps to identify the plot.

Key points

  • The cave town, on the Murge towards the Itria valley.
  • 19,675 residents in 2023, up 1.7% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration about 0.060 g.
  • Karst ground: cavities and pooling water checked per address.

Overview

Castellana Grotte is a municipality in the province of Bari, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 19,675 residents, ranked 20 of 41 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castellana Grotte is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Only 7 of 41 municipalities in the province are in zone 4.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.060 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 1.7%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 3.3% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castellana Grotte declared an average taxable income of 20,339 euros, below the provincial average (21,788 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Castellana Grotte is in climate zone D, with 1,673 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 290 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castellana Grotte has 14 schools and 6 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 19 grocery shops and supermarkets, 16 healthcare facilities, 11 sports facilities and 4 parks and green areas.

There are 1.0 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more 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 12.1% of the land in Castellana Grotte, compared with 9.7% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Castellana Grotte is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Puglia in 2025. 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 Castellana Grotte.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Castellana Grotte: 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 Castellana Grotte 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 103 inhabited census areas in Castellana Grotte. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.3%
  • fair 39.7%
  • good 60.0%

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 072017. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.