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Faenza: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Faenza

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 Firenze 1, Faenza.

Faenza, ceramics, the Via Emilia and the river Lamone

The French word faïence, used for tin-glazed pottery, comes from the name of this town. Faenza has been making ceramics for centuries, still has working studios and hosts the International Museum of Ceramics. It lies on the Via Emilia between Imola and Forlì, where the Romagna plain meets the first hills rising towards Brisighella along the Lamone valley.

For commuters the location works well. The station is on the Bologna-Rimini line and is also the terminus of the Faentina railway, which crosses the Apennines to Florence, and the A14 motorway junction is right by the town. Plenty of residents work in Bologna, Ravenna or Forlì and go by train.

The issue that weighs most on sales today is water. In May 2023 the Lamone and the Marzeno burst their banks and flooded whole neighbourhoods near the river, and it partly happened again the following year. Before buying, ask whether the house was flooded, what repairs were done and whether any compensation claims are still open. The report shows the official hazard maps for the address, and here they change a lot from street to street.

Faenza had 58,843 residents at the end of 2023, up 1.9% on 2011, and in the province only Ravenna is larger. The average age of 46.6 is lower than the provincial figure of 47.4, and foreign residents make up 12.5%. Incomes are slightly above the provincial average.

Almost the whole province of Ravenna, 17 of its 18 municipalities, is in seismic zone 2 under the Civil Protection classification, and Faenza's expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.206 g, a medium-high value. Many houses in the old centre are masonry and have been altered several times, so a structural survey before completion is money well spent. Cadastral maps from the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) are available, and the report traces the plot from the address.

Key points

  • Ceramics town on the Via Emilia, with trains over the Apennines to Florence.
  • After the 2023 floods, always ask about the property's history.
  • 58,843 residents, up 1.9% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.206 g.

Overview

Faenza is a municipality in the province of Ravenna, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 58,843 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Faenza is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (17 of 18) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.206 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Faenza, 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 grown by 1.9%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 25% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 12.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Faenza declared an average taxable income of 26,022 euros, in line with the province (25,184 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Faenza is in climate zone E, with 2,263 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 35 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Faenza has 34 schools and 16 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 30 grocery shops and supermarkets, 48 healthcare facilities, 66 sports facilities and 14 parks and green areas.

There are 0.8 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.5).

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 11.8% of the land in Faenza, compared with 10.5% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 15.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Faenza is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Emilia-Romagna in 2026. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list 7 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Faenza, and 21 more have been cleaned up or closed. The report tells you whether one is close to the address.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Faenza: 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 Faenza 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 646 inhabited census areas in Faenza. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 4.7%
  • fair 31.0%
  • good 44.5%
  • very good 19.8%

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 039010. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.