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Oliveto Lucano: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Oliveto Lucano

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 Giuseppe Garibaldi 1, Oliveto Lucano.

Oliveto Lucano, by the Gallipoli Cognato woods

Oliveto Lucano is a small village in the inland hills of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It belongs to the province of Matera, but its landscape is closer to the mountains around Potenza. The municipality borders the woods of the Gallipoli Cognato and Piccole Dolomiti Lucane regional park, an area of oak forest and sandstone rock that draws walkers mainly in spring and autumn. The village sits at around five hundred metres on a rise.

The striking figure is population decline. In 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 345 residents, against 494 in 2011, a fall of 30.2%. The estimated average age is 57.1, well above the 46.3 of the province, and 42.6% of residents are over 65, compared with 24.8% across the province. Households average 1.67 people; foreign residents make up 2.0%.

For a buyer this means a small market, where each property needs careful assessment. Before buying, check the roof, leaks, wiring and plumbing, and planning compliance, and ask what work has been done in recent years. For schools, pharmacies and healthcare, expect to drive to the larger towns in the area. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.

Oliveto Lucano is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection scale, like 17 of the 31 municipalities in the province, with an expected acceleration in the village of about 0.167 g. That calls for care: in an old masonry building, ask whether any seismic improvement work has been done and whether it is documented.

On the clay and sandstone slopes of the area, the ground needs looking at plot by plot. The report checks the official landslide maps for the address and starts from the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Inland Basilicata hills, beside the Gallipoli Cognato park.
  • 345 residents in 2023, down 30.2% since 2011.
  • Average age 57.1, with 42.6% over 65.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.167 g.

Overview

Oliveto Lucano is a municipality in the province of Matera, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 345 residents, among the smallest in the province (30 of 31).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Oliveto Lucano is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 2c. Most municipalities in the province (17 of 31) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.167 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Oliveto Lucano, 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 30.2%. The estimated average age is 57 years, higher than the province average (46). 43% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 2.0% of the population. On average, a household has 1.7 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Oliveto Lucano declared an average taxable income of 16,709 euros, below the provincial average (19,958 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Oliveto Lucano is in climate zone D, with 1,882 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 546 metres above sea level.

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 1.7% of the land in Oliveto Lucano, compared with 2.7% 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 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 open contaminated sites in Oliveto Lucano; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Oliveto Lucano: 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 Oliveto Lucano 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 5 inhabited census areas in Oliveto Lucano. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 68 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 48.6%
  • good 51.4%

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 077019. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.