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Fénis: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste, Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Fénis

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: Localita' Les Cors 1, Fénis.

Fénis, the castle and the central Dora valley

Fénis Castle, with its towers and double ring of walls, is the reason many people have heard of the village. The municipality lies in the central valley east of Aosta, with the floor of the Dora Baltea, hamlets spread across the slope and meadows climbing towards the woods and mountains. Aosta is about twenty minutes' drive and remains the place for work and services.

The population is steady: 1,769 residents in 2023, up 0.2% on 2011. The average age is 46.0, below 47.0 for the region, and over-65s are 23.7%, fewer than the regional 25.3%. Households have 2.05 members on average and foreign residents account for 4.1%.

Buyers will find stone farmhouses in the hamlets, often with timber details and traditional stone-slab roofs, as well as recent detached houses and small blocks of flats near the valley floor. The village is in climate zone F: long, cold winters, so insulation has a big impact on running costs. As throughout the region, French and Italian are both official languages.

All 74 municipalities in the Aosta Valley are in seismic zone 3, and in Fénis the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is 0.077 g. For a stone house, the most useful check covers the roof, walls and floors, especially if the building has been extended over time.

In the mountains, slopes and streams matter more than any municipal average. The report for an address measures elevation and slope, checks the official landslide and flood maps and finds the plot on the cadastral maps of the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate).

Key points

  • Central Dora valley east of Aosta, around the castle.
  • Average age 46.0, below the regional average.
  • All 74 Aosta Valley municipalities in zone 3.
  • Stone houses with slab roofs: check roof and walls.

Overview

Fénis is a municipality in the province of Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste, in Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste. At the end of 2023 it had 1,769 residents, ranked 19 of 74 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Fénis is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. All 74 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.077 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the number of residents is nearly unchanged. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 4.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Fénis declared an average taxable income of 25,152 euros, in line with the province (26,152 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Fénis is in climate zone F, with 3,063 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 541 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Fénis has 2 schools. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop.

The data shows no pharmacies within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.4 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 1.7% of the land in Fénis, compared with 2.2% in the province and 2.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Fénis is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Valle d'Aosta in 2026. 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 Fénis; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Fénis: 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 Fénis 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 11 inhabited census areas in Fénis. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 34.8%
  • good 65.2%

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 007027. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.