Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Ramacca: 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 Ramacca

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 Santissimo Crocifisso 2, Ramacca.

Ramacca, a farming town on the edge of the Catania plain

Wheat fields, artichoke beds and citrus groves cover almost all of Ramacca, one of the largest municipalities by area in the province of Catania. The town stands at around 270 metres on a rise at the western edge of the Catania plain, between Palagonia and Castel di Iudica, with Etna clearly visible on the horizon on clear days. Artichokes are what it is known for, and there is a festival devoted to them.

Built-up land is a tiny share of the municipality: the town is compact and surrounded by open countryside, farmsteads and rural houses. Buyers mostly find town houses on two or three floors, often built or extended over the years, and some country houses in need of work. For those, check planning compliance and access carefully, as rural roads can be long and unpaved.

Ramacca's population is younger than the provincial average. At the end of 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 10,188 residents, down 5.4% since 2011, with a mean age of 42.6 against 44.2 for the province, and 19.6% over 65. Foreign residents make up 4.7%. Declared incomes are well below the provincial average. There are 13 school buildings on record, more per resident than the provincial average; for hospitals and specialist care people travel towards Catania or Caltagirone.

Eastern Sicily is the part of the island most exposed to earthquakes. Ramacca is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection Department's scale from 1 (highest hazard) to 4, like 54 municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.176 g. For a masonry or reinforced concrete house from the 1960s or 1970s, have a surveyor check the structure before signing.

Winters are mild (climate zone C) and summers long and hot, so roof insulation and shading matter as much as heating. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps and the report finds the plot from the address, also checking landslides on slopes and flooding on the plain.

Key points

  • Farming town on the western edge of the Catania plain.
  • Mean age 42.6, 19.6% over 65.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.176 g.
  • Country houses: check planning compliance and access.

Overview

Ramacca is a municipality in the province of Catania, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 10,188 residents, ranked 27 of 58 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Ramacca 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 0.176 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Ramacca, 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 5.4%. The estimated average age is 43 years, lower than the province average (44). 20% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 4.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Ramacca declared an average taxable income of 15,977 euros, below the provincial average (20,793 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Ramacca is in climate zone C, with 1,040 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 270 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Ramacca has 13 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 9 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities, 2 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.3 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.7).

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 2.2% of the land in Ramacca, 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

Official databases list no open contaminated sites in Ramacca; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Ramacca: 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 Ramacca 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 62 inhabited census areas in Ramacca. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 77 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 4.8%
  • good 95.2%
  • very good 0.0%

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 087037. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.