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Castroreale: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Castroreale

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 San Carlo 1, Castroreale.

Castroreale, the hill town above the Barcellona plain

The historic centre of Castroreale looks down on the plain that runs to Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and the Tyrrhenian Sea, with Milazzo and the Aeolian Islands in the distance on clear days. It is a medieval town in the province of Messina, built along a ridge, with many churches and noble palazzi that speak of a more important past than today's population suggests.

Buying in Castroreale usually means choosing between two quite different things. One is a house in the old centre, often in need of work, with sloping lanes and awkward car access. The other is a home in the hamlets and countryside lower down, closer to the coast and the main roads. For jobs and everyday services, people head down to the Barcellona plain, a short drive away.

Istat, Italy's statistics office, counts 2,266 inhabitants in 2023, down 11.1% since 2011. The average age of 48.0 is above the provincial 46.7, foreign residents are 5.2% and incomes are below the provincial average. The climate is mild, zone C.

The province of Messina is among the most earthquake-prone parts of Italy. Castroreale is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection scale, with an expected acceleration of 0.191 g. For an old stone building, ask whether structural work has been done and under which permits, and paying an engineer to look at it before completion is money well spent. The report for the address adds the official landslide and flood maps.

Key points

  • Medieval town above the Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto plain.
  • Sloping old centre, hamlets closer to the coast.
  • 2,266 inhabitants, down 11.1% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration 0.191 g.

Overview

Castroreale is a municipality in the province of Messina, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 2,266 residents, ranked 51 of 108 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castroreale is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (91 of 108) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.191 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Castroreale, 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 11.1%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 5.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castroreale declared an average taxable income of 18,138 euros, below the provincial average (20,687 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Castroreale is in climate zone C, with 1,300 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 394 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castroreale has 7 schools and 3 pharmacies.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 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 2.1% of the land in Castroreale, compared with 6.0% in the province and 6.6% 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 open contaminated sites in Castroreale; 2 have been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Castroreale: 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 Castroreale 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 22 inhabited census areas in Castroreale. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 66 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 38.8%
  • good 61.2%

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 083016. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.