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Mendatica: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Mendatica

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 Giuseppe Mazzini 1, Mendatica.

Mendatica, the upper Arroscia valley and the hamlet of Monesi

The Ligurian Alps, close to the border with Piedmont, have pastures, beech woods and stone villages. Mendatica is one of them, in the upper Arroscia valley, just below eight hundred metres; its territory climbs to the ski resort of Monesi, and part of it lies within the Ligurian Alps Regional Nature Park.

The village is a tangle of stone houses on several levels, with steep lanes and shared walls. For buyers that means damp cellars to check, stone-slab or tiled roofs to inspect and wiring and plumbing that often need redoing. Daily life leans on Pieve di Teco for services and on the coast, towards Imperia and Albenga, for work and the hospital. The climate zone is F, so heating is a major expense.

In 2023 Istat, Italy's national statistics office, recorded 161 residents, 44 fewer than the 205 of 2011, a fall of 21.5%. The estimated average age is 56.0, against 48.7 in the province of Imperia, over-65s make up 38.5% and foreign residents 7.5%.

The province of Imperia has municipalities in zones 2 and 3 of the Civil Protection Department's seismic scale; Mendatica is in zone 3, like 35 other municipalities in the province, and the expected ground acceleration is about 0.143 g. In houses built against one another, ask whether any structural work has been done, including on the adjoining buildings. For mountain slopes and streams, the report checks the official landslide and flood maps at the individual address, and with the Revenue Agency's maps it links the house to its land parcel.

Key points

  • Ligurian Alps village in the upper Arroscia valley, including Monesi.
  • 161 residents in 2023, down 21.5% since 2011.
  • Average age 56.0; foreign residents 7.5%.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.143 g.

Overview

Mendatica is a municipality in the province of Imperia, in Liguria. At the end of 2023 it had 161 residents, among the smallest in the province (63 of 66).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Mendatica is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (36 of 66) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.143 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 21.5%. The estimated average age is 56 years, higher than the province average (49). 39% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 29%). Foreign residents make up 7.5% of the population. On average, a household has 1.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Mendatica declared an average taxable income of 20,729 euros, in line with the province (21,487 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Mendatica is in climate zone F, with 3,235 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 778 metres above sea level.

Services

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.0 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 2.0% of the land in Mendatica, compared with 6.4% in the province and 7.3% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Mendatica is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Liguria in 2026. 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 no contaminated sites in Mendatica.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Mendatica: 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 Mendatica 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 7 inhabited census areas in Mendatica. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 57 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

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 008034. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.