Recognitions
The 10 southernmost Borghi più belli d'Italia
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €330 in Sutera to €970 in Palazzolo Acreide.
Borghi più belli d'Italia comuni, ranked by latitude, south to north. 10 towns shown.
Table no. 29 · Ranked by lat · 10 towns
At the other end of the list, the southernmost certified borghi in the catalogue: Sicilian Baroque towns, Calabrian rocks, places where the recognition arrived long after the emigration did.
South to north. The plaques here mark towns that stayed beautiful mostly because nobody had the money to modernize them badly.
- 1.Palazzolo Acreide37.06° NSiracusa · SicilyBest for a long lunch. Food guides list four tables here.38 min from Siracusa · homes €560 to €970 a m² in the center · 7,980 peopleAn 8,000-resident hilltop town on the Iblei plateau at 670m, rebuilt entirely in late Baroque after the 1693 earthquake and founded over the Greek Akrai colony in 664 BC, with a Greek theater and a cluster of rock carvings unlike anything else nearby.
- 2.Ferla37.12° NSiracusa · Sicily1 h 1 min from Siracusa · homes €490 to €700 a m² in the center · 2,235 peopleA baroque village at 500 meters on the Monte Lauro slopes, the western gateway to the UNESCO necropolis of Pantalica eleven kilometers downhill.
- 3.Buccheri37.13° NSiracusa · SicilyBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.1 h 20 min from Catania · homes €475 to €710 a m² in the center · 1,705 peopleThe highest village in the province of Syracuse, world capital of Tonda Iblea olive oil at the 2015 Sol d'Oro.The catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
- 4.Sutera37.53° NCaltanissetta · SicilyBest for a small town. 1,144 people live here.1 h 53 min from Palermo · homes €330 to €490 a m² in the center · 1,144 peopleA medieval village clinging to the base of a 800-meter monolith in the Nisseno interior, with an Arab quarter and a sanctuary on the summit.The catch: It has lost 20% of its people since 2015.
- 5.Calascibetta37.59° NEnna · Sicily1 h 8 min from Catania · homes €460 to €690 a m² in the center · 3,988 peopleA promontory town at 691 meters facing Enna across a ravine, founded in the ninth century as a Muslim camp to besiege Byzantine Henna.
- 6.Sambuca di Sicilia37.66° NAgrigento · SicilyBest for a wine weekend. It belongs to the national association of wine towns.1 h 21 min from Palermo · homes €380 to €570 a m² in the center · 5,253 peopleAn Arab-founded hill town in the Belice valley, still called Zabut in living memory before 1923.
- 7.Agira37.66° NEnna · Sicily53 min from Catania · homes €410 to €610 a m² in the center · 7,567 peopleBirthplace of the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus and burial site of 490 Canadian soldiers of the 1943 campaign.
- 8.Sperlinga37.77° NEnna · SicilyBest for a small town. 652 people live here.1 h 37 min from Catania · homes €350 to €510 a m² in the center · 652 peopleA sandstone borgo at 750 meters in the Nebrodi foothills where a Norman castle and dwellings are carved into the rock as one continuous mass.The catch: It has lost 20% of its people since 2015.
- 9.Troina37.79° NEnna · SicilyBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.1 h 1 min from Catania · homes €410 to €610 a m² in the center · 8,310 peopleAt 1,121 meters on the Nebrodi ridge, the first capital and first bishopric the Normans set up in Sicily after taking it from the Arabs.
- 10.Petralia Soprana37.80° NPalermo · Sicily1 h 28 min from Palermo · homes €480 to €650 a m² in the center · 2,866 peopleThe highest village in the Madonie at 1,147 meters, RAI Borgo dei Borghi 2018 winner, sitting above 80 kilometers of salt tunnels.The catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
TEN OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN SICILY
We write letters from the Italian towns we visit: the town, what is worth eating there, and when to turn up. It is free, and you can leave whenever you like.
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