Montemurro: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Potenza, Basilicata. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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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 Vittorio Emanuele 1, Montemurro.
Montemurro, Sinisgalli's village in the Agri valley
The poet and engineer Leonardo Sinisgalli was born in Montemurro in 1908, and the village keeps his memory alive. Montemurro lies in the Agri valley, in the province of Potenza in Basilicata, on a rise overlooking the valley, with a sloping old centre and a landscape of fields, woodland and olive groves.
For buyers, the village mainly offers family houses in the centre, often on several floors and reached on foot from the narrower streets, plus a few country houses. Main services, the hospital and secondary schools are in the larger towns of the Agri valley, reached by car along the valley road. The climate zone is E: cold winters and heating costs to plan for. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.
The village has emptied quickly: 1,057 residents in 2023, 19.4% fewer than in 2011, or 255 people, according to Istat, the national statistics office. The average age is 49.1 against 47.3 in the province; over-65s are 29.4% and foreign nationals 1.6%.
In the province of Potenza, 40 municipalities are in seismic zone 1 and 59 in zone 2. Montemurro is in zone 1, with an expected ground acceleration in the built-up area of 0.228 g. The Agri valley has a long history of earthquakes, so for a masonry house in the centre ask to see plans and sign-off for any work done, and get an engineer's opinion.
The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps, and the report works back from the address to the plot. For a house on the edge of the village or in the countryside, gradient and the official landslide maps should be checked for the exact spot.
Key points
- Birthplace of Leonardo Sinisgalli, in the Agri valley.
- Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration 0.228 g.
- Residents down 19.4% since 2011.
- Average age 49.1, over-65s at 29.4%.
Overview
Montemurro is a municipality in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 1,057 residents, ranked 72 of 100 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Montemurro is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 1b. Only 40 of 100 municipalities in the province are in zone 1.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.228 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
For anyone buying in Montemurro, 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 19.4%. The estimated average age is 49 years, higher than the province average (47). 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 1.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Montemurro declared an average taxable income of 17,995 euros, below the provincial average (20,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Montemurro is in climate zone E, with 2,224 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 723 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Montemurro has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy.
The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.8 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 2.8% of the land in Montemurro, compared with 3.5% in the province and 3.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.
Radon and contaminated sites
According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.
Official databases list 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Montemurro, and one more has been cleaned up or closed. 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 Montemurro: 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 Montemurro 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 13 inhabited census areas in Montemurro. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 58 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 0.9%
- fair 99.1%
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
- Seismic classification of municipalities, Dipartimento della Protezione Civile. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 2025-05.
- MPS04 seismic hazard model, INGV. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2004 model.
- Data by census section, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, residents at the end of 2023, compared with the 2011 census.
- Places, Overture Maps Foundation. Licence CDLA Permissive 2.0 and others depending on provider, release 2026-10-21.0.
- Income and main IRPEF variables by municipality, MEF, Dipartimento delle Finanze. Licence CC BY 3.0 IT, tax year 2024.
- Climate zones and heating degree days of municipalities (Presidential Decree 412/1993, Annex A), Normattiva. Licence CC BY 4.0, current text.
- Land take, territorial dynamics and ecosystem services, ISPRA e SNPA. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2024 data.
- Predictive radon map by municipality, ISPRA. Licence CC BY 4.0, version 2022-11.
- Contaminated sites, ISPRA, MOSAICO - Banca dati nazionale dei siti oggetto di procedimento di bonifica. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 12 November 2026.
- Liveability index by census area, Vicinalia, from the data in the report sections. Licence CC BY-SA 4.0, worked out on 30 September 2026.
- List of Italian municipalities, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 21 February 2026.
ISTAT code 076052. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.