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Grotte di Castro: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Grotte di Castro

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 Vittorio Veneto 1, Grotte di Castro.

Grotte di Castro, a tufa ridge above Lake Bolsena

Grotte di Castro takes its name from the caves dug into the tufa, the soft volcanic rock it is built on. The village runs along a ridge in the high ground north of Lake Bolsena, in the upper part of the province of Viterbo, with the old centre stretched out along the crest and rock faces falling away on either side. Around it are potato and cereal fields, olive groves and the Etruscan tombs found throughout the area.

Houses in the centre are old, narrow and on several floors, often with caves and cellars below street level. These spaces are handy for storage but need checking for damp and stability. Buyers who want room and parking will find newer houses in the modern part of the village and farmhouses in the countryside. Viterbo and Orvieto are the reference points for work and larger services, both by car.

The population is ageing and shrinking: 2,387 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, down 14.6% since 2011, with an average age of 50.8 (the province: 47.5) and over-65s at 31.4%. Foreign residents make up 11.6%.

The municipality is in seismic zone 2, like 39 other municipalities in the province, and the expected ground acceleration is 0.141 g. In a tufa building in the centre, have a surveyor check the walls and the cavities beneath.

Cadastral data is available through the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) maps. For houses on the edge of the ridge, the report checks the official landslide maps at the address.

Key points

  • Tufa village north of Lake Bolsena.
  • Old houses with caves and cellars cut into the rock.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration 0.141 g.
  • Over-65s 31.4%, foreign residents 11.6%.

Overview

Grotte di Castro is a municipality in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio. At the end of 2023 it had 2,387 residents, ranked 34 of 60 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Grotte di Castro is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 2B. Most municipalities in the province (40 of 60) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.141 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Grotte di Castro, 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 14.6%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (48). 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 11.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Grotte di Castro declared an average taxable income of 20,399 euros, below the provincial average (22,031 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Grotte di Castro is in climate zone E, with 2,249 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 467 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Grotte di Castro has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities, 2 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 1.3 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 3.7% of the land in Grotte di Castro, compared with 4.7% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Grotte di Castro.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Grotte di Castro: 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 Grotte di Castro 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 21 inhabited census areas in Grotte di Castro. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 77 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 14.0%
  • good 53.2%
  • very good 32.8%

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 056030. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.