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Castelsaraceno: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Castelsaraceno

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 Vittorio Emanuele 1, Castelsaraceno.

Castelsaraceno, a mountain village below Monte Raparo

At around 900 metres on the slopes of Monte Raparo, Castelsaraceno is a mountain village in the province of Potenza, inside the Appennino Lucano National Park. Woods, pastures and deep ravines surround it, and one of those ravines is now crossed by a Tibetan-style suspension bridge that has brought hikers and day visitors in recent years.

For a buyer, distance and climate come first. The hospital, secondary schools and larger shops are in the valley towns, and you need a car to reach them. The village is in climate zone E, with cold, snowy winters, so the boiler, windows and insulation weigh on running costs far more than on the plain. Houses in the centre are mostly stone-built, set side by side along the slope.

According to Istat, the national statistics office, Castelsaraceno had 1,148 residents in 2023, 332 fewer than in 2011, a drop of 22.4%. The average age is 50.5, compared with 47.3 across the province, and 32.0% of residents are over 65, against 25.7% provincially. Foreign residents make up 2.4%.

The village is in seismic zone 1, the highest hazard class on the national scale set by the Civil Protection Department, shared with 39 other municipalities in the province. Expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is 0.257 g. For a masonry house, ask for paperwork on any structural work and, if there is none, get an engineer to price seismic upgrading before you negotiate.

Cadastral maps from the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) are available, so the report traces the parcel from the address. In a landscape of slopes and gullies, landslide hazard and gradient are checked spot by spot on the official maps.

Key points

  • Mountain village inside the Appennino Lucano National Park.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration 0.257 g.
  • 1,148 residents, 332 fewer than in 2011.
  • Cold, snowy winters: insulation and heating matter a great deal.

Overview

Castelsaraceno is a municipality in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 1,148 residents, ranked 69 of 100 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castelsaraceno is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 1a. Only 40 of 100 municipalities in the province are in zone 1.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.257 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Castelsaraceno, 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 22.4%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (47). 32% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 2.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castelsaraceno declared an average taxable income of 18,520 euros, below the provincial average (20,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Castelsaraceno is in climate zone E, with 2,586 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 916 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castelsaraceno has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop and 1 healthcare facility.

There are 2.6 schools per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (1.3).

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 1.4% of the land in Castelsaraceno, compared with 3.5% in the province and 3.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Castelsaraceno.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Castelsaraceno: 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 Castelsaraceno 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 8 inhabited census areas in Castelsaraceno. 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 076025. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.