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Pontechianale: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Pontechianale

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: Frazione Chianale 1, Pontechianale.

Pontechianale, the lake and the Col Agnel at the head of Valle Varaita

At the head of the Varaita valley, below Monte Viso in south-western Piedmont, Pontechianale brings together a few hamlets above 1,500 metres around the Castello reservoir. From the highest hamlet the road over the Col Agnel (Colle dell'Agnello) leads into France and is open only in summer. In winter the valley can be reached only from below, coming up from the plain around Saluzzo.

The municipality lives on tourism, summer and winter, and the figures show it: Overture Maps lists 84.27 places to eat per 1,000 residents, against 5.51 in the province of Cuneo. Many houses are second homes. In 2023 there were 178 residents, 2.2% fewer than in 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office, with an estimated average age of 52.8 and over-65s at 39.3%. Households average 1.65 people. Declared incomes are well below the provincial average.

High mountains come with their own costs: climate zone F, months of snow and heating that runs for a long time. Traditional houses are stone and timber with stone-slab roofs. If you are buying a flat in a shared building, read the building's rules and its service charge accounts carefully, since in the mountains they include snow clearing and roof maintenance.

Pontechianale is in seismic zone 3 under the Civil Protection classification, like 141 of the 247 municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.125 g.

At this altitude avalanches, landslides and flash floods need assessing for the exact spot: the report reads the official maps for the address and finds the land parcel on the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Hamlets above 1,500 metres around the Castello reservoir.
  • 84.27 places to eat per 1,000 residents.
  • 178 residents in 2023, over-65s at 39.3%.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.125 g.

Overview

Pontechianale is a municipality in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 178 residents, ranked 207 of 247 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Pontechianale is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 3S. Most municipalities in the province (141 of 247) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.125 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 2.2%. The estimated average age is 53 years, higher than the province average (46). 39% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 3.4% of the population. On average, a household has 1.6 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Pontechianale declared an average taxable income of 17,216 euros, below the provincial average (24,913 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Pontechianale is in climate zone F, with 4,316 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,614 metres above sea level.

Services

In the Overture Maps data, Pontechianale has 2 grocery shops and supermarkets and 1 green area.

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.1 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 0.5% of the land in Pontechianale, compared with 5.3% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Pontechianale is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. 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 Pontechianale.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Pontechianale: 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 Pontechianale 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 14 inhabited census areas in Pontechianale. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 72 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 16.0%
  • good 84.0%

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 004172. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.