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Tortorici: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Tortorici

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: Contrada Sceti 1, Tortorici.

Tortorici, a Nebrodi mountain town inland from Capo d'Orlando

From the Tyrrhenian coast at Capo d'Orlando, the road climbs inland through narrow valleys and woods to Tortorici, in the Nebrodi mountains of north-east Sicily, at about four hundred and fifty metres. It is a genuine mountain town, with a dense centre of stone houses and churches and scattered rural districts on the slopes, where people long lived from farming and livestock.

Depopulation is the figure that weighs most. In 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 5,630 residents, 1,102 fewer than in 2011, a fall of 16.4%. The estimated average age is 46.8, in line with the province of Messina (46.7), over-65s make up 25.7% and foreign nationals just 1.1%. Declared incomes are well below the provincial average.

For buyers this means many empty houses and low prices, but also buildings left unused for years, with roofs, wiring, plumbing and render to redo. There are schools (9, above the provincial average per resident), while for the hospital and many other services people go down to the coast. If you are thinking of a holiday home, allow for driving times, which are longer than the distances suggest.

Mountains bring landslides and flash floods. The Nebrodi slopes are clayey and unstable in many places, and the streams running down to the Tyrrhenian can rise fast in autumn rain: the report shows the official landslide and flood maps for the exact plot.

Earthquakes also need to be considered. In the province of Messina, 17 municipalities are in zone 1 and 91 in zone 2 of the Civil Protection Department's classification; Tortorici is in zone 2, with an expected acceleration of about 0.187 g. Stone houses built without earthquake-resistant design should be seen by an engineer or surveyor before completion. Cadastral maps from the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) are published.

Key points

  • Mountain town in the Nebrodi, inland from Capo d'Orlando.
  • Population down 16.4% since 2011: many empty houses.
  • Landslides and flash floods to check for the address.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.187 g.

Overview

Tortorici is a municipality in the province of Messina, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 5,630 residents, ranked 19 of 108 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Tortorici is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (91 of 108) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.187 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Tortorici, 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 16.4%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 26% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 1.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Tortorici declared an average taxable income of 15,059 euros, below the provincial average (20,687 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Tortorici is in climate zone C, with 1,396 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 450 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Tortorici has 9 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 4 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities and 2 sports facilities.

There are 0.4 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.8).

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 2.9% of the land in Tortorici, compared with 6.0% 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 Tortorici; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Tortorici: 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 Tortorici 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 53 inhabited census areas in Tortorici. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 66 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 46.1%
  • good 48.1%
  • very good 5.8%

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 083099. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.