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Sestola: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Sestola

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 Provinciale per Pavullo 4, Sestola.

Sestola, Monte Cimone and the Modena Apennines

Sestola is the best-known mountain resort in the Modena Apennines, in the Frignano area at the foot of Monte Cimone, the highest peak in the northern Apennines. The village sits above a thousand metres, overlooked by its fortress on the rock, and lives largely on tourism: skiing in winter on the Cimone slopes, walking and cooler air in summer.

For buyers this means a particular kind of market. A large share of homes are second homes, flats in blocks built for holidaymakers and small villas, alongside the stone houses of the centre. If you want to live here all year, consider the distance to Modena, over an hour of mountain roads, and the seasonal opening of shops and services. Service charges and heating costs are significant, as climate zone F brings long, snowy winters.

Istat, the national statistics institute, counts 2,411 residents in 2023, down 7.3% on 2011. The average age is 51.8, well above the 45.8 of the province of Modena, and over-65s make up 32.5%. Foreign residents are 8.5%. There are many bars and restaurants for the number of residents, thanks to visitors.

Sestola is in seismic zone 3, like 39 other municipalities in the province, but its expected acceleration of 0.171 g is high for that zone. For flats in blocks from the 1960s and 1970s, ask the building manager what structural checks and work have been done.

In the mountains the report measures elevation and gradient at the address, checks the official hazard maps for the slopes and identifies the land parcel with the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Frignano, at the foot of Monte Cimone, above a thousand metres.
  • Many second homes linked to skiing and summer.
  • Population down 7.3% since 2011; over-65s at 32.5%.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration 0.171 g.

Overview

Sestola is a municipality in the province of Modena, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 2,411 residents, ranked 39 of 47 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sestola is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (40 of 47) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.171 g, a medium-high 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 7.3%. The estimated average age is 52 years, higher than the province average (46). 33% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 8.5% of the population. On average, a household has 1.8 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sestola declared an average taxable income of 23,118 euros, below the provincial average (27,632 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Sestola is in climate zone F, with 3,419 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,020 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sestola has 4 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities, 6 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 1.7 schools per 1,000 residents, more 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 7.1% of the land in Sestola, compared with 11.1% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Sestola is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Emilia-Romagna in 2026. 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 Sestola, and one more has 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 Sestola: 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 Sestola 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 50 inhabited census areas in Sestola. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 63 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 8.4%
  • fair 43.0%
  • good 26.4%
  • very good 22.2%

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 036043. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.