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Mistretta: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Mistretta

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 Liberta' 1, Mistretta.

Mistretta, the stone town of the Nebrodi mountains

High in the Nebrodi mountains, at around nine hundred metres, Mistretta is one of the highest and oldest towns in the province of Messina. The road up climbs from the Tyrrhenian coast at Santo Stefano di Camastra through woods and pasture, and the town appears as a compact mass of stone houses, churches and palazzi, with the ruined castle on the rock above.

For buyers, Mistretta offers a large historic centre full of fine buildings, but also many empty houses. According to Istat, the national statistics office, the population has fallen to 4,308 residents in 2023, down 14.1% on 2011, or 706 people. The average age is 47.5 and over-65s make up 27.3%; foreign residents are very few, at 1.8%.

Compared with many towns of this size, basic services are still here: there are 0.93 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, against 0.77 in the province, and 3 pharmacies. The climate, though, is mountain climate (zone E in the Italian heating classification), with cold and sometimes snowy winters: in a stone house, budget for heating and insulation from the start.

The province of Messina is among the most seismic in Italy, with 17 municipalities in zone 1 and 91 in zone 2. Mistretta is in seismic zone 2, with an expected ground acceleration of around 0.183 g. Before buying a palazzo or an old masonry house, commission a structural survey; on the slopes the report also checks the official landslide maps.

Key points

  • Stone town in the Nebrodi, at about nine hundred metres.
  • 4,308 residents, 706 fewer than in 2011.
  • Healthcare facilities: 0.93 per 1,000 residents.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.183 g.

Overview

Mistretta is a municipality in the province of Messina, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 4,308 residents, ranked 26 of 108 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Mistretta is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (91 of 108) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.183 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Mistretta, 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 14.1%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 1.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Mistretta declared an average taxable income of 19,617 euros, below the provincial average (20,687 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Mistretta is in climate zone E, with 2,165 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 900 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Mistretta has 6 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 4 healthcare facilities, 2 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 1.2 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 2.1% of the land in Mistretta, compared with 6.0% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.8 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Mistretta.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Mistretta: 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 Mistretta 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 31 inhabited census areas in Mistretta. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 81 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 0.7%
  • good 17.1%
  • very good 82.2%

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 083052. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.