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Fivizzano: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Massa-Carrara, Toscana. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Fivizzano

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 Roma 1, Fivizzano.

Fivizzano, dozens of villages between the Apuan Alps and Apennines

Fivizzano is a large, fragmented municipality in Lunigiana, the area where Tuscany meets Liguria and Emilia, made up of dozens of hamlets and villages spread between the Apuan Alps and the Apennine ridge. The main town, at around three hundred metres, has a square and some substantial palazzi; around it lie villages such as Equi Terme, Monzone, Gragnola and Soliera, and the castle of Verrucola.

People who buy here are often after a stone house in a village, sometimes as a holiday home, sometimes to live in all year. Distances are long, though, the roads winding, and some villages have few residents and almost no services. Before deciding, try the winter drive to Aulla, the coast or whatever services you rely on.

The town is shrinking and ageing: 7,034 residents in 2023, down 14.9% since 2011. The average age is 54.0, against 49.2 for the province of Massa-Carrara, over-65s are 38.3% and households are small, 1.93 people on average. Foreign residents make up 5.9%. There are 6 official pharmacies, spread between the main town and the hamlets.

The 1920 earthquake hit Lunigiana and the Garfagnana hard, and the area remains among the most seismic in Tuscany. Fivizzano is in seismic zone 2 of the Civil Protection classification, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.191 g. In a stone house, walls, the ties between walls and floors, and the roof make the difference: ask what work has been done and to which designs, and if you plan to renovate, have an engineer assess seismic upgrading too.

On steep slopes and in villages along streams, landslides and floods are a real risk. The report checks the maps for the address, starting from the cadastral maps published by the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate).

Key points

  • Dozens of Lunigiana villages between the Apuan Alps and Apennines.
  • Population down 14.9% since 2011.
  • Average age 54.0, over-65s at 38.3%.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.191 g.

Overview

Fivizzano is a municipality in the province of Massa-Carrara, in Toscana. At the end of 2023 it had 7,034 residents, ranked 5 of 17 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Fivizzano is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (14 of 17) 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 Fivizzano, 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 14.9%. The estimated average age is 54 years, higher than the province average (49). 38% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 5.9% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Fivizzano declared an average taxable income of 21,876 euros, below the provincial average (23,864 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Fivizzano is in climate zone E, with 2,283 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 326 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Fivizzano has 11 schools and 6 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 6 healthcare facilities and 5 sports facilities.

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 3.5% of the land in Fivizzano, compared with 7.3% in the province and 6.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Fivizzano is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Toscana in 2025. 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 Fivizzano; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Fivizzano: 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 Fivizzano 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 144 inhabited census areas in Fivizzano. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 53 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 24.3%
  • fair 65.3%
  • good 10.4%

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 045007. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.