Compound
Towns where everything is true: small, high, recognized, reachable
Ten towns at the top of the list: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €370 in Goriano Sicoli to €3,100 in Limone Piemonte.
Under 1,500 residents, above 400 meters, at least one recognition, and either a railway station or an airport hub within an hour. The catalogue holds 11, all shown.
Table no. 50 · Ranked by residents · 11 towns
This is the catalogue's intersection set: small, high, recognized, and reachable, all four at once. Under fifteen hundred residents, above four hundred meters, at least one certification, and either a station or an airport hub within the hour.
The catalogue holds a dozen such towns. If this site has a distilled thesis, they are it.
- 1.Sante Marie1,059 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for truffle season. It belongs to the national association of truffle towns.1 h 8 min from Rome · homes €510 to €760 a m² in the centerA 950-meter Marsica village and the trailhead of the Cammino dei Briganti, the seven-day brigand trail through the Cartore band's territory.
- 2.Gromo1,142 residentsBergamo · LombardiaBest for a ski week. There is a mapped ski area in the comune.46 min from Bergamo · homes €800 to €1,100 a m² in the centerA medieval iron-forging town at 676 meters on a rock spur above the Serio, once called the little Toledo for its sword smiths.
- 3.Summonte1,478 residentsAvellino · CampaniaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.55 min from Salerno · homes €680 to €810 a m² in the centerAn Irpinia hill village at 738 meters on the slope of the Partenio massif, built around a 16-meter Angevin cylinder tower.
- 4.Goriano Sicoli512 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.1 h 8 min from Pescara · homes €370 to €540 a m² in the centerAt 720 meters in the Subequana valley, a medieval village drawn by M.C. Escher in 1929 keeps a May ritual folklorists trace to Demeter.
- 5.Limone Piemonte1,343 residentsCuneo · PiemonteBest for a long lunch. Food guides list two tables here.1 h 43 min from Turin · homes €2,100 to €3,100 a m² in the centerA ski village at 1,000 meters in the Vermenagna valley, the southern end of the Alps where the Tenda tunnel drops toward the Côte d'Azur.
- 6.Cornello dei Tasso50 residentsBergamo · LombardiaBest for a day out from Bergamo. It is 39 min by car.39 min from BergamoA car-free medieval frazione of Camerata Cornello in the Val Brembana, reachable only on foot, built around the family that ran Europe's first integrated postal network.
- 7.Cicala841 residentsCatanzaro · Calabria2 h 2 min from Reggio Calabria · homes €520 to €620 a m² in the center
- 8.Civita d'Antino939 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.1 h 40 min from Rome · homes €380 to €550 a m² in the centerAt 904 meters above the Roveto valley, the ancient Marsi town that became a Danish painters' colony from 1883 until the 1915 earthquake.
- 9.Caldes1,111 residentsTrento · Trentino-Alto Adige53 min from Trento · homes €1,200 to €1,400 a m² in the centerA scattered commune on the Noce, six hamlets gathered around a thirteenth-century tower-house castle that once belonged to the Thun family.The catch: January nights average 3 degrees below zero.
- 10.Aiello Calabro1,338 residentsCosenza · CalabriaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 57 min from Reggio Calabria · homes €400 to €590 a m² in the centerA hilltop borgo at 502 meters in the Tyrrhenian hinterland of Cosenza, ruled for two centuries by the Cybo-Malaspina from Massa Carrara.The catch: It has lost 23% of its people since 2015.
THREE OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN ABRUZZO
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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