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Urzulei: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Urzulei

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 San Giorgio 1, Urzulei.

Urzulei, the Supramonte and the Gorropu gorge

Most of Urzulei's land is Supramonte: limestone uplands, holm oaks, canyons and dry ravines running down towards the sea of Ogliastra, in eastern Sardinia. The Gorropu gorge, which the municipality shares with Dorgali, and the upper Codula di Luna both lie here. The village itself sits lower down on the hillside, along the Orientale Sarda main road that climbs to the Genna Silana pass.

For buyers, Urzulei is a mountain village with few homes on the market, mostly family houses built or extended over time. The streets are steep and narrow, services are basic, and for hospital care, secondary schools and offices people go down towards the coast, to Tortolì or Lanusei. Anyone thinking of holiday use is mainly looking at the hikers who come for the Supramonte. The climate zone is D and declared incomes are below the Ogliastra average.

The village is losing people: 1,071 residents in 2023, down 17.3% on 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. The average age is 50.2 against 47.9 in the province, over-65s are 29.3% and foreign nationals just 1.0%.

Earthquakes are not a major concern: all 23 municipalities in Ogliastra are in seismic zone 4, the lowest class, and the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is 0.050 g. In a village house, the roof, waterproofing and the wiring and plumbing matter more.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps, and the report reaches the plot from the address. In a village built on a slope, the gradient and the official landslide maps are checked plot by plot.

Key points

  • Supramonte village, with the Gorropu gorge and the Codula di Luna.
  • Residents down 17.3% since 2011.
  • All 23 municipalities in Ogliastra in seismic zone 4.
  • Average age 50.2, over-65s at 29.3%.

Overview

Urzulei is a municipality in the province of Ogliastra, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 1,071 residents, ranked 18 of 23 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Urzulei is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 23 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 17.3%. The estimated average age is 50 years, higher than the province average (48). 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Urzulei declared an average taxable income of 18,117 euros, below the provincial average (19,512 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Urzulei is in climate zone D, with 1,638 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 511 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Urzulei has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 green area.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.7 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 1.0% of the land in Urzulei, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Urzulei is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Sardegna in 2022. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is high. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Urzulei: 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 Urzulei 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 6 inhabited census areas in Urzulei. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 60.3%
  • good 39.7%

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 116020. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.