Rocca Santa Maria: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Rocca Santa Maria
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 Fioli 1, Rocca Santa Maria.
Rocca Santa Maria, mountain hamlets in the Laga range
Rocca Santa Maria is a mountain municipality in the hinterland of Teramo, made up of several hamlets scattered over the slopes of the Monti della Laga, inside the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. The town hall stands above a thousand metres and the area is in climate zone F, the band with the longest winters: snow and frost are normal and the heating stays on for much of the year. For work, secondary schools and the hospital people drive down to Teramo on mountain roads.
The homes that come up for sale are mostly stone houses in the hamlets, often needing work, sought by people who want to live up here or spend the summer. Go and see the place in winter before you sign: you will find out whether the road is cleared of snow, what it costs to heat thick walls and what state the roof, windows and heating are in.
In 2023 there were 454 residents, against 569 at the 2011 census, a fall of 20.2%. The estimated average age is 52.4, compared with 46.7 for the province, and people over 65 make up 33.7% of residents (24.8% provincially). Households average 1.88 people and declared incomes are below the provincial average.
Earthquake hazard is high. Rocca Santa Maria is in seismic zone 1, the most severe class on the national scale kept by the Civil Protection Department, along with 9 other municipalities in the province of Teramo; the remaining 37 are in zone 2. Expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.214 g. With a stone house, ask whether the walls have been strengthened, whether the roof was rebuilt with a reinforced ring beam and whether the plans for the work were filed.
The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps here too, so the report traces an address back to its land parcel. On the slopes landslide hazard changes from one plot to the next, and the official maps show it point by point.
Key points
- Mountain hamlets in the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga park.
- 454 residents in 2023, down 20.2% since 2011.
- Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration about 0.214 g.
- Climate zone F: see the house in the snow as well.
Overview
Rocca Santa Maria is a municipality in the province of Teramo, in Abruzzo. At the end of 2023 it had 454 residents, among the smallest in the province (44 of 47).
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Rocca Santa Maria is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. Only 10 of 47 municipalities in the province are in zone 1.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.214 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
For anyone buying in Rocca Santa Maria, 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 20.2%. The estimated average age is 52 years, higher than the province average (47). 34% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 8.6% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Rocca Santa Maria declared an average taxable income of 18,141 euros, below the provincial average (21,288 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Rocca Santa Maria is in climate zone F, with 3,193 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,073 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Rocca Santa Maria has 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 sports facility and 1 green area.
The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.0 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 1.8% of the land in Rocca Santa Maria, compared with 6.7% in the province and 5.1% 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Rocca Santa Maria. 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 Rocca Santa Maria: 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 Rocca Santa Maria 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 19 inhabited census areas in Rocca Santa Maria. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 54 or more.
Residents by band
- fair 100.0%
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
- 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 067036. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.