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Catanzaro: what to know before buying a home

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

Search for an address in Catanzaro

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 Dante 7, Milan.

Calabria's regional capital, between hills and the Ionian Sea

Catanzaro is the regional capital of Calabria and home to the regional government, yet what strikes most visitors first is the lie of the land. The historic city sits on high ground a few kilometres inland, and the municipal area runs all the way down to the Ionian coast on the Gulf of Squillace, at the point where Calabria narrows between two seas. Spanning the valleys below the upper town is the Bisantis viaduct, designed by the engineer Riccardo Morandi and one of the city's landmarks.

With 84,109 residents in 2023, Catanzaro is the largest municipality in its province, home to 24.7% of the people living across its 80 municipalities. The 2011 census recorded 89,364, so the population has fallen by 5.9%. Households average 2.28 people, foreign nationals are just 3.6% of residents, and 25.2% are over 65, slightly above the provincial figure of 24.6%.

Open map data from Overture count 100 education sites, 61 healthcare sites and 81 sports facilities, all above the provincial average once population is taken into account. There are 27 officially registered pharmacies, which is proportionally fewer than elsewhere in the province.

Italy's seismic classification places Catanzaro in zone 2, while 45 municipalities in the province are in zone 1, the most severe, and 35 in zone 2. The estimate from INGV, the national geophysics institute, is nonetheless high for the built-up area: an expected ground acceleration of about 0.238 g. The zone is an administrative label applied to the whole municipality; how a particular building would cope depends on when and how it was built and on any structural work carried out since.

For any address in Catanzaro the report finds the cadastral sheet and parcel number (foglio and particella) on the Revenue Agency's maps, which cover the municipality. Landslide and flood risk, however, depend on the precise spot: between the inland hills and the coastal strip there is no single answer that holds everywhere.

Key points

  • Regional capital and largest municipality in the province (24.7% of residents).
  • 84,109 residents in 2023, down 5.9% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, but high expected ground acceleration: about 0.238 g.
  • Municipal area stretching from the hills to the Ionian coast.

Overview

Catanzaro is the capital of the province of Catanzaro, in Calabria. At the end of 2023 it had 84,109 residents, the most populous municipality in the province. 25% of the province's residents live here.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Catanzaro is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Only 35 of 80 municipalities in the province are in zone 2.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.238 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Catanzaro, 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.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood risk changes from one street to the next, even within the same municipality: for this reason we do not summarise it as a single figure for the whole of Catanzaro.

The report checks the exact address against the ISPRA national maps and tells you in plain words whether the building falls within an at-risk area. The official map is also available on IdroGEO.

House prices

We do not publish price tables by municipality. The report gives the minimum and maximum price per square metre for the address's zone, from the Revenue Agency's OMI valuations, with the reference half-year. It is a range for the zone, not the value of a specific home.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 5.9%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 25% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 3.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Catanzaro has 100 schools and 27 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 38 grocery shops and supermarkets, 61 healthcare facilities, 81 sports facilities and 9 parks and green areas.

There are 0.3 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.5).

This data is gathered from several providers: services may be missing or closed businesses may still appear. The report counts services within 500 metres and 1 kilometre of the address.

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

Land registry

The Revenue Agency publishes the cadastral maps for Catanzaro: the report finds the building's parcel, that is its sheet and parcel number, starting from the address.

Data sources

ISTAT code 079023. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.