Calabria · Cosenza
Alessandria del Carretto
The highest village in the Pollino at 1,043 meters, the only Italian commune carrying its founder's full name, with a fir-tree ritual every 3 May.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Alessandria del Carretto is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici and Comuni Virtuosi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 2 h 56 min from Salerno
- Population
- 352
- J7°
- F10°
- M10°
- A13°
- M19°
- J24°
- J28°
- A27°
- S22°
- O18°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Alessandria del Carretto is the highest inhabited village in the Pollino National Park, perched at 1,043 meters in the eastern range of Italy's largest protected area. It is the only commune in Italy that bears the full name and surname of its founder, the marchese Alessandro Pignone del Carretto, who established it in 1639. Population today is around 352, declining for decades, with traditions kept alive against depopulation.
The signature is the Festa della Pita, on 3 May for the feast of Saint Alexander, one of the oldest nature-rebirth rituals in the Mediterranean: in mid-April the community cuts a twenty-meter fir tree in the Pollino woods, on the last Sunday of April carries it by hand to the village to accordion and bagpipe, then on 3 May runs the climb of the fir for the gifts tied to its top. The historical carnival, with masks of the beautiful and ugly Polëcënellë, marks the other end of the ritual year.
How to get there
From Lamezia Terme (SUF), about 2 h 50 min by car.
Bari (BRI) is about 3 h 10 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 2 h 56 min, Bari 3 h 4 min or Naples 3 h 40 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico di Alessandria del Carretto
Stone village at 1,043 meters in the Pollino, founded in 1639 by Alessandro Pignone del Carretto, the only Italian commune named for its founder.
Pollino National Park
Highest village in Italy's largest national park, surrounded by Bosnian pine forest and the slopes that climb toward Serra del Prete.
Chiesa di Sant'Alessandro Papa
Mother church of the village, dedicated to the patron saint whose feast on 3 May coincides with the climax of the Festa della Pita.
Belvedere sul Pollino
Viewpoint on the upper ridge over the Pollino massif and the Ionian plain below, on clear days reaching the Basilicata coast.
Living here
Could you live here?
Alessandria del Carretto is at the end of the road.
- A village of 352. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Trebisacce, is 51 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Corigliano-Rossano, a city of 74,332, is 1 h 24 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 352, down 26.1% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Corigliano-Rossano, 1 h 24 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Castrovillari, 20 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €365 to €485 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Very remote
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Lamezia Terme airport (SUF), 2 h 50 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Catanzaro, 3 h 5 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from the Central African Republic, against 9% across Italy. There are 844 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 67% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Cosenza province ranks 100th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Trebisacce, 15 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Sangineto, 56 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 331 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 150 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.86% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Calabria spends about €1,620 a month, €590 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €398 a year for water, on the Calabria average. In Cosenza, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20 and a man's haircut €20.91.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 93% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
FESTA DELLA PITA
One of the oldest Mediterranean nature-rebirth rituals, a twenty-meter fir cut in April, hauled by hand and climbed on 3 May.
HISTORICAL CARNIVAL
Beautiful and ugly Polëcënellë masks dramatise the struggle of order and disorder, death and rebirth, one of Calabria's most important historical carnivals.
TALLEST POLLINO
Highest inhabited village in Pollino National Park at 1,043 meters, with 352 residents and the only commune named for its founder.
Common questions
- What is Alessandria del Carretto known for?
- Alessandria del Carretto is the highest village in the Pollino at 1,043 meters, the only Italian commune carrying its founder's full name, with a fir-tree ritual every 3 May.
- Where is Alessandria del Carretto?
- Alessandria del Carretto is a comune in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, at 1043 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Alessandria del Carretto?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Lamezia Terme (SUF), about 2 h 50 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Alessandria del Carretto?
- About 2 h 56 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Alessandria del Carretto?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Alessandria del Carretto?
- Scontrone, Sauris and Barrea.
- How many people live in Alessandria del Carretto?
- 352 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Alessandria del Carretto a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Alessandria del Carretto is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Trebisacce, is 51 min away. The nearest city, Corigliano-Rossano, is 1 h 24 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Castrovillari, 20 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1043 m
- Population: 352
- Surface area: 41.12 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Alessandria del Carretto appears in
- The best mountain towns in the province of CosenzaCosenza provincemountain6 towns · smallest 352 residents
- The best high-altitude villages in CalabriaCalabriaabove 800 m8 towns · smallest 352 residents
- The 10 best hidden mountain towns in CalabriaCalabriamountainhidden10 towns · smallest 352 residents
- The best hidden towns inside a national park in the province of CosenzaCosenza provinceinside a parkhidden10 towns · smallest 352 residents
Similar
Towns like Alessandria del Carretto
What all six share with Alessandria del Carretto: high in the mountains · under 1,000 people · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
The letter
Alessandria del Carretto is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Alessandria del Carretto comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 425 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.