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Castro: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Castro

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 Litoranea per Tricase 1, Castro.

Castro, the clifftop village and harbour in Salento

Castro comes in two parts, and a buyer needs to tell them apart straight away. Up top is the old village, enclosed by walls and gathered around the castle and the main church, looking out to sea from the cliff. Below is Castro Marina, which grew up around the small harbour and along the rocky Adriatic coast of Salento, south of Otranto. The Zinzulusa sea cave, open to visitors, is on this stretch of coast.

Life here follows the seasons. In summer tourists and second-home owners arrive, and the 32 bars and restaurants on record are a lot for a municipality this size; in winter Castro goes back to being a small, quiet village. If you want a house to let or to use in the warm months, the sea view and the distance from the harbour matter. If you plan to live here all year, look at services and transport, which for many things mean driving to the larger towns in Salento.

Istat, the national statistics office, counts 2,348 residents (2023), down 5.1% from 2,473 in 2011. The population is old: the average age is 50.7 against 47.2 in the province of Lecce, and over-65s are 31.0%. Foreign residents make up 1.4%. Incomes are slightly above the provincial average.

Earthquakes are a minor concern: every municipality in the province is in seismic zone 4, the lowest class in the Civil Protection classification, and the expected ground acceleration is about 0.068 g. By the sea, salt air matters more, as it eats into steel, render and window frames, and so does damp in houses closed for months.

For houses near the cliffs, the report checks the official landslide and flood maps at the address. The Revenue Agency's cadastral maps are available.

Key points

  • Old village on the cliff and Castro Marina around the harbour
  • 32 bars and restaurants, many tied to summer
  • Average age 50.7, over-65s at 31.0%
  • Seismic zone 4, like the whole province of Lecce

Overview

Castro is a municipality in the province of Lecce, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 2,348 residents, ranked 79 of 96 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castro is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 96 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.068 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 fallen by 5.1%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (47). 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 1.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castro declared an average taxable income of 19,796 euros, in line with the province (19,196 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Castro is in climate zone C, with 1,243 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 98 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castro has 3 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities, 2 sports facilities and 2 parks and green areas.

There are 0.9 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.4).

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 26.1% of the land in Castro, compared with 14.1% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Castro 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 Castro.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Castro: 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 Castro 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 Castro. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 25.8%
  • good 74.2%

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 075096. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.