Population
Italian towns with fewer than 200 people
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 €300 in Celle di San Vito to €1,550 in Bard.
Every comune in the catalogue with fewer than 200 residents. 12 towns, smallest first. The catalogue holds 12 of them, not a round ten.
Table no. 16 · Ranked by residents · 12 towns
Below two hundred residents a town stops being an economy and becomes an act of will. Someone keeps the anagrafe open, someone rings the bells, someone mows the cemetery. These are all the comuni in the catalogue at that scale.
Visit gently. In a town of one hundred and fifty, a party of four is a demographic event.
- 1.Montelapiano67 residentsChieti · Abruzzo1 h 24 min from Pescara · homes €420 to €630 a m² in the center
- 2.Ostana87 residentsCuneo · PiemonteBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 34 min from Turin · homes €660 to €950 a m² in the centerThe catch: January nights average 3 degrees below zero.
- 3.Bard102 residentsAosta Valley · Aosta ValleyBest for a long lunch. A food guide lists Ad Gallias here.1 h 12 min from Turin · homes €1,050 to €1,550 a m² in the center
- 4.Monteferrante103 residentsChieti · Abruzzo1 h 25 min from Pescara · homes €420 to €630 a m² in the centerThe catch: It has lost 25% of its people since 2015.
- 5.Santo Stefano di Sessanio105 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 18 min from Pescara · homes €810 to €1,150 a m² in the centerA Medici outpost at 1,250 meters, restored building by building since 1999 into Italy's first scattered hotel.The catch: January nights average 3 degrees below zero.
- 6.Calascio122 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.1 h 16 min from Pescara · homes €580 to €840 a m² in the center
- 7.Castelvecchio Calvisio124 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.1 h 11 min from Pescara · homes €340 to €490 a m² in the centerThe catch: It has lost 21% of its people since 2015.
- 8.Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena126 residentsSavona · LiguriaBest for a slow weekend. The Touring Club gives it its orange flag for small inland towns.1 h 33 min from Genoa · homes €710 to €1,050 a m²The catch: It has lost 20% of its people since 2015.
- 9.Celle di San Vito142 residentsFoggia · Puglia55 min from Foggia · homes €300 to €450 a m² in the centerThe catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
- 10.Usseaux174 residentsTorino · PiemonteBest for a slow weekend. The Touring Club gives it its orange flag for small inland towns.1 h 32 min from Turin · homes €680 to €1,000 a m² in the centerA Val Chisone village at 1,416 meters with four scattered borgate and more than forty murals painted across the stone facades.The catch: January nights average 7 degrees below zero.
FIVE 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.