In short
Many families who left Italy still own land there, often without knowing exactly where it is. The plot can be found from abroad: on the cadastral map, through old papers, or through the tax code of the person it belonged to. Each way ends with the same record.
Three ways to find the plot
1. The family papers
Deeds of sale (atto di compravendita), inheritance declarations (dichiarazione di successione) and old tax notices list the land by municipality, sheet (foglio) and plot number (particella). With those three you can order the record directly, €4.90.
2. The tax code of the owner
If you know the Italian tax code (codice fiscale) of the person the land belonged to, a search by person (visura per soggetto) lists the land and buildings registered to that code in the province you choose, each with its sheet and plot number. It costs €4.90. It can work for people who have died too: if nobody registered the inheritance, the land often still stands in their name.
3. The map
Our map shows every cadastral plot in Italy with its number, drawn on the cadastre's own map with roads, rivers and buildings. Search the village, look for the place you remember, click on the plot. It is free and needs no account. When you find it, the record can be ordered from the same panel.
What you learn, and what comes next
The record tells you the size of the plot, its land use and who is registered as owner. If the names are still those of grandparents, the inheritance was probably never registered with the cadastre. Fixing that (the successione and the transfer called voltura) is work for an Italian notary, a surveyor (geometra) or a patronato office abroad. We do not do it, but the record is the first thing any of them will ask for.
Before selling or buying, check the charges too: the mortgage search lists mortgages and seizures recorded on the plot, €24.90.
Houses and flats. If a building stands on the plot, the record of its owners is in the buildings register (Catasto Fabbricati), not in the land register. After you pay we look the plot up in the buildings register first: if it has one home on it, you get that record; if it has several units (flats, garages, shops), we ask you which one, at no extra cost. If it has none, you get the land record. One exception for now: in municipalities divided into cadastral sections (some large towns), on map sheets with a letter (such as 34A), and in Trieste, Gorizia, Trento and Bolzano we can only request the land record, which for a house says ente urbano and names no owner.
€4.90, paid by card from any country.
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Sources: Agenzia delle Entrate (cadastre and land registry), consular notices on the CIE. Prices from our price list. Checked on 10 October 2026.