Lazio · Frosinone
Anagni
The hill town in Ciociaria where a September 1303 assault on a reigning pope inside his own palace ended the medieval claim to papal supremacy.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Anagni is on our list
It holds Città del Vino.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 55 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 20,616
- J11°
- F13°
- M15°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S26°
- O21°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Anagni sits on a hilltop in Ciociaria, fifty-five kilometers southeast of Rome, looking over the Sacco valley and the Hernici mountains. It is one of four communes called the Città dei Papi, the others being Segni, Ferentino, and Veroli; the town claims four medieval popes, Innocent III, Gregory IX, Alexander IV, and a fourth who would later be attacked in his own palace. Agents of Philip IV of France, acting on his orders, stormed that palace on the hill and seized the reigning pope inside it.
The centralized medieval papacy died with him within the month, and within five years the papal court had moved to Avignon. The town's medieval fabric runs along Via Vittorio Emanuele, where the communal loggia, a frescoed church, and a house layered with nineteenth-century inscriptions sit within walking distance of each other on the same climb up from the lower town to the cathedral above. A single event inside a single palace on this hill is the reason the town's name outgrew its size: the town claims four popes, but it is one pope's humiliation, not birth, that historians still date the end of an era to.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 6 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 1 h 42 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 1 h 47 min or Salerno 2 h 11 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Anagni is about 54 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Cattedrale di Santa Maria
Romanesque cathedral on the highest point of the hill, with Gothic additions, a campanile, and a Cosmati pavement underfoot.
Cripta di San Magno
The crypt beneath the cathedral floor, walls covered edge to edge in painting, dim enough that the colors need a moment to settle into view.
Palazzo di Bonifacio VIII
The papal palace where Sciarra Colonna seized Boniface VIII during the Outrage of Anagni, its thirteenth-century rooms still standing on the hill.
Palazzo Comunale
Medieval town hall built around 1163, with an open ground-floor loggia spanning Via Vittorio Emanuele on Romanesque arches.
Chiesa di San Pietro in Vineis
Romanesque-Gothic church on the lower edge of the centro storico, with a thirteenth-century fresco cycle recently restored.
Living here
Could you live here?
Anagni meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 20,616 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Frosinone, a city of 43,015, is 23 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 20,616, down 3.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Frosinone, 23 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Colleferro, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €570 to €850 per m² to buy, €3.40 to €4.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 56% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 49 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 55 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Nigeria, against 9% across Italy. 11 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 214 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 24% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Frosinone province ranks 85th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Colleferro, 14 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 39 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 57 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 38 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% 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 is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Lazio spends about €2,270 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €647 a year for water, on the Lazio average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 5% 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
THE CRYPT
540 square meters of thirteenth-century frescoes under the cathedral, the most complete medieval painting cycle in central Italy.
THE SLAP
On 7 September 1303 Sciarra Colonna seized Boniface VIII in the papal palace; the pope died a month later and the curia moved to Avignon.
CESANESE
Cesanese del Piglio, Lazio's first DOCG red, grown on the slopes around Anagni and historically served at the papal court.
Common questions
- What is Anagni known for?
- Anagni is the hill town in Ciociaria where a September 1303 assault on a reigning pope inside his own palace ended the medieval claim to papal supremacy.
- Where is Anagni?
- Anagni is a comune in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio, at 424 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Anagni?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 49 min by car.
- Can you get to Anagni without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Anagni?
- About 1 h 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Anagni?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Anagni?
- Sermoneta, Todi and Castiglion Fiorentino.
- How many people live in Anagni?
- 20,616 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Anagni a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Anagni is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Frosinone, is 23 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Colleferro, 14 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 56% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 424 m
- Population: 20,616
- Surface area: 112.82 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 Anagni appears in
- The 6 best wine towns in LazioLaziowine6 towns · smallest 1,861 residents
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townby trainwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,696 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best hill towns in the province of FrosinoneFrosinone provincehill town7 towns · smallest 2,588 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train within an hour of RomeNear Romeby trainwithin 60 min9 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
Featured on
Anagni appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Anagni
What all six share with Anagni: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
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