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Viggiù: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Viggiù

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: Viale Varese 1, Viggiù.

Viggiù, a stonemasons' town on the Swiss border

Stone shaped Viggiù's history. For centuries the local quarries and the town's stonemasons produced columns, doorways and statues for churches and palaces, some far beyond Lombardy, and the centre still has stone houses and courtyards. The town is in the north of the province of Varese, on the hills between the Valceresio and the Swiss border, with Monte Orsa behind it.

The border is a few minutes away, and some residents work in Switzerland, in the canton of Ticino. That probably helps explain a surprising figure: average declared income is far below the Varese provincial average, because cross-border workers' wages are taxed wholly or partly in Switzerland and only partly appear in Italian tax returns. Varese is about twenty minutes by car. Buyers will find stone houses in the centre, often on several levels and with little light, and detached houses on the slopes with views over the valley.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 5,173 residents in 2023, down 0.7% on 2011, so almost unchanged. The average age is 46.5, against 46.5 for the province; 23.5% are over 65 and 4.3% are foreign nationals.

Earthquake risk is low. All 136 municipalities in the province of Varese are in seismic zone 4, the lowest class set by the Civil Protection Department, and the expected ground acceleration here is about 0.039 g. At almost five hundred metres, winters are cold and damp (climate zone E), so in a stone house the real cost is insulation, together with the roof, windows and walls built against the hillside.

On the slopes and near the old quarries, the report checks the landslide maps and the gradient at the address. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, so the report can go from the address to the plot.

Key points

  • A town of stone and stonemasons, minutes from Switzerland.
  • Many cross-border workers: Italian declared income below the province.
  • All 136 Varese municipalities in seismic zone 4.
  • Residents down 0.7% since 2011, nearly stable.

Overview

Viggiù is a municipality in the province of Varese, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 5,173 residents, ranked 45 of 136 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Viggiù is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 136 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.039 g, a low 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 number of residents is nearly unchanged. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 4.3% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Viggiù declared an average taxable income of 18,843 euros, below the provincial average (27,186 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Viggiù is in climate zone E, with 2,712 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 482 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Viggiù has 4 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 4 healthcare facilities and 5 sports facilities.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.4 per 1,000 residents.

Public transport

The open timetables available for the area do not list any stops within the territory of Viggiù.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 14.1% of the land in Viggiù, compared with 21.1% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Viggiù is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Lombardia in 2023. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Viggiù.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Viggiù: 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 Viggiù 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 28 inhabited census areas in Viggiù. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 73 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 0.9%
  • good 99.1%

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 012139. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.