Sessa Aurunca: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Caserta, Campania. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Sessa Aurunca
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 Corso 1, Sessa Aurunca.
Sessa Aurunca, from the Roccamonfina volcano to Baia Domizia
Sessa Aurunca covers one of the largest municipal areas in Campania. The old town, with its Romanesque cathedral and the remains of a Roman theatre, sits on the slopes of the extinct Roccamonfina volcano. From there the land drops to the plain of the Garigliano, the river that marks the border with Lazio, and to the coast at Baia Domizia.
In between are dozens of hamlets scattered over hills and plain, each with its own identity, and distances matter: a buyer should not assume that schools, shops and doctors are all in the main town. Holiday homes and summer villas dominate on the coast, while the hill villages have stone houses, often in need of renovation.
The population is shrinking. Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 20,209 residents in 2023, 9.0% fewer than in 2011. The town is also much older than the province of Caserta, one of the youngest in Italy: 26.2% of residents are over 65 against 19.3%, and the average age is 47.4. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.
Such a large area spreads services across several centres: 31 education sites and 10 pharmacies, both above the provincial rate per resident.
Almost every municipality in the province, 96 of them, is in seismic zone 2 of the national classification drawn up by the Civil Protection Department. Sessa Aurunca is in zone 2, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.098 g. For stone houses in the villages, find out whether any strengthening work has been done, perhaps under the building tax incentives of recent years. On the volcano's slopes landslides are the issue, on the plain near the Garigliano it is flooding, and the report checks both on the official maps for the exact spot.
Key points
- From the extinct Roccamonfina volcano down to Baia Domizia.
- 20,209 residents in 2023, down 9.0% since 2011.
- Over-65s at 26.2%, against 19.3% in the province.
- Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.098 g.
Overview
Sessa Aurunca is a municipality in the province of Caserta, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 20,209 residents, ranked 12 of 104 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sessa Aurunca is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (96 of 104) are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.098 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
For anyone buying in Sessa Aurunca, 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 9.0%. The estimated average age is 47 years, higher than the province average (43). 26% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 3.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sessa Aurunca declared an average taxable income of 19,120 euros, in line with the province (20,073 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Sessa Aurunca is in climate zone C, with 1,355 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 203 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sessa Aurunca has 31 schools and 10 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 16 grocery shops and supermarkets, 11 healthcare facilities, 10 sports facilities and 6 parks and green areas.
There are 0.5 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.3).
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 7.6% of the land in Sessa Aurunca, compared with 10.5% in the province and 10.6% 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 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Sessa Aurunca, and 2 more have been cleaned up or closed. 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 Sessa Aurunca: 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 Sessa Aurunca 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 189 inhabited census areas in Sessa Aurunca. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 63 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 2.1%
- fair 52.2%
- good 45.6%
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 061088. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.