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Massafra: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Massafra

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: Corso Roma 2, Massafra.

Massafra, ravines, carnival and the Chiatona seaside

The San Marco ravine cuts Massafra in two, and the bridges across it link the old town, with its castle on the edge, to the newer city. Rock-cut churches and caves open in the ravine walls, and in the Madonna della Scala ravine a sanctuary is reached by a long flight of steps. The town lies on the Murge hills north-west of Taranto and runs down to the sea at the hamlet of Chiatona.

Massafra's carnival, with its allegorical floats, is followed across the province. Otherwise it is a farming town, with citrus groves, vineyards and olives, linked to Taranto by the Appian Way main road; the city's industrial area is a few kilometres away. Buyers choose between the old town on the ravines, districts of small blocks, and the second homes of Chiatona, which empty out in winter.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 31,966 residents in 2023, down 1.3% since 2011. The population is younger than the province, with an average age of 44.7 against 46.5 and over-65s at 22.0%. Foreign residents make up 5.9% and average income is below the provincial figure. Sports facilities and supermarkets are above average per resident, at 1.00 and 0.81 per 1,000 residents.

In the province of Taranto, 10 municipalities are in seismic zone 3 and 19 in zone 4 on the Civil Protection scale. Massafra is in zone 3, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.133 g. For tufa-stone houses in the old town, have the masonry, vaults and damp checked.

Near the edge of the ravines, the stability of the walls and cavities underground matter; where the ravines open onto the plain, heavy storms can bring sudden water. The report checks landslide and flood hazard for the address and traces the plot through the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) land registry maps.

Key points

  • Old town on the ravines, rock-cut churches and carnival.
  • 31,966 residents, average age 44.7.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.133 g.
  • Houses on the ravine edge: check ground stability.

Overview

Massafra is a municipality in the province of Taranto, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 31,966 residents, the third most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Massafra is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Only 10 of 29 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.133 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 resident population has fallen by 1.3%. The estimated average age is 45 years, lower than the province average (46). 22% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 5.9% of the population. On average, a household has 2.5 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Massafra declared an average taxable income of 19,143 euros, below the provincial average (20,557 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Massafra is in climate zone C, with 1,123 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 110 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Massafra has 21 schools and 10 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 26 grocery shops and supermarkets, 19 healthcare facilities, 32 sports facilities and 3 parks and green areas.

There are 0.8 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.6).

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 8.2% of the land in Massafra, compared with 9.6% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 3.3 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Massafra is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Puglia in 2025. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Massafra. 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 Massafra: 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 Massafra 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 69 inhabited census areas in Massafra. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 73 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.5%
  • fair 16.9%
  • good 82.5%

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 073015. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.