Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Pedara: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Pedara

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 Ara di Giove 1, Pedara.

Pedara, on the southern slopes of Etna above Catania

Pedara is one of the Etna villages that climb from the sea towards the volcano. The town hall stands at about 600 metres on the southern flank of Etna, near Nicolosi and Trecastagni, and Catania is reached by driving down through the towns of the foothills. Many people choose it to live higher up and cooler, away from the heat and traffic of the city.

The town has grown a great deal in recent decades, with villas, detached houses and small blocks of flats built on old farmland. The centre has houses of lava stone around the main church, while outside it there are residential districts and steep roads. This is climate zone D: winters are colder than in Catania, so heating is a real cost, and so is clearing the ash that Etna drops on roofs, terraces and gutters during eruptions.

The growth shows in the figures from Istat, the national statistics office: 15,161 residents in 2023, up 17.6% on 2011, or 2,265 people. For the province it is young: estimated average age 42.7 against 44.2, over-65s at 18.3% against 21.9%. Foreign residents make up 1.4%. Declared incomes are above the average for the province of Catania.

Earthquakes here come from two sources: the large quakes of eastern Sicily, and volcanic ones that are shallow and can be very strong over small areas. Pedara is in seismic zone 2 and the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.229 g, a high value. In the province, 4 municipalities are even in zone 1. Before buying, ask for the structural paperwork, especially for houses built during the boom years or extended more than once.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps and the report reaches the plot from the address. On the sloping ground of the volcano, landslide hazard and storm runoff heading downhill are checked for the individual address.

Key points

  • Etna village at about 600 metres, above Catania.
  • 15,161 residents, up 17.6% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.229 g.
  • Cool winters and volcanic ash to plan for.

Overview

Pedara is a municipality in the province of Catania, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 15,161 residents, ranked 20 of 58 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Pedara is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (54 of 58) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.229 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Pedara, 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 grown by 17.6%. The estimated average age is 43 years, lower than the province average (44). 18% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 1.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Pedara declared an average taxable income of 22,164 euros, above the provincial average (20,793 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Pedara is in climate zone D, with 1,568 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 610 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Pedara has 8 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 7 healthcare facilities, 8 sports facilities and 3 parks and green areas.

There are 0.5 schools per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.9).

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 21.8% of the land in Pedara, compared with 8.0% in the province and 6.6% 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 no open contaminated sites in Pedara; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Pedara: 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 Pedara 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 67 inhabited census areas in Pedara. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 27.1%
  • good 44.4%
  • very good 28.5%

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 087034. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.