Lazio · Frosinone
Arpino
The Volscian-Roman hill town in the Liri valley that produced Marius and Cicero, with a pre-Roman acropolis above the modern center.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 46 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 6,684
Known for
CICERO
Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in 106 BC in a villa just below the town, on the Liri river bend now part of Isola del Liri.
MARIUS
Gaius Marius, seven-time consul and military reformer of the late Roman Republic, was born in the territory of Arpinum in 157 BC.
CYCLOPEAN WALLS
Polygonal pre-Roman walls of the acropolis above the town, with a pointed-arch gate that is the only known ogival arch of its date in central Italy.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Madonna di Loreto, 10 December
Why come
Arpino sits on two hills in the Liri valley, in the Ciociaria region of southern Lazio. The ancient city of Arpinum, on the upper hill now called Civitavecchia, was a Volscian-Samnite stronghold captured by Rome in 305 BC. The lower hill is the medieval and modern town.
Two Roman consuls were born here: Gaius Marius, the military reformer who fought the Cimbri and Teutones, and Marcus Tullius Cicero, the orator and senator killed in 43 BC. The villa where Cicero was born stood just north, on the Liri, in what is now Isola del Liri. The upper acropolis is ringed by polygonal cyclopean walls of the sixth or fifth century BC, with the Arco a Sesto Acuto, a pointed-arch gate cut into the same stone work. Arpino is on the Bandiere Arancioni list and on the Cammino di San Benedetto, the long pilgrim route from Norcia to Montecassino.
The Sunday letter
Arpino 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 every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Arpino comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Arpino in our articles
The best hidden towns you can reach by train that eat well in Lazio6 towns, Arpino among them.
The best towns on the Cammino di San Benedetto in Lazio6 towns, Arpino among them.
The best hill towns in the province of Frosinone7 towns, Arpino among them.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route in Lazio7 towns, Arpino among them.
How to get there
From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 50m by car.
Rome (FCO) is about 2h 17m away.
By car from the centre of Naples 2 hours or Pescara 2h 8m.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Latina? Arpino is about 1h 28m away by road.
What to see
Acropoli di Civitavecchia
Pre-Roman upper city on the hill above modern Arpino, surrounded by cyclopean polygonal walls of the sixth or fifth century BC.
Arco a Sesto Acuto
Pointed-arch gate cut into the cyclopean walls of the acropolis, the only known pre-Roman ogival arch in central Italy.
Torre di Cicerone
Medieval tower on the acropolis, traditionally linked to Cicero by local memory though built more than a thousand years after his death.
Piazza Municipio
Main square of the lower town with the nineteenth-century bronze statue of Cicero, the Palazzo Boncompagni, and a Romanesque-Gothic church.
Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo
Concattedrale of the diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo, on the site of an earlier Roman temple, restructured in the seventeenth century.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Arpino fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Il Gonfalonehistorical re-enactment
usually held across July and August. TrovaSagre
Festa degli Gnocchifood festival
usually held in August. TrovaSagre
Sagra delle Fettuccine con Funghi Porcini e Tartufofood festival
usually held in August. itinerarinelgusto.it
Living here
- Population 6,684
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 50 min drive
- Regional capital Roma, 1 h 46 min drive
Common questions
- What is Arpino known for?
- Arpino is the Volscian-Roman hill town in the Liri valley that produced Marius and Cicero, with a pre-Roman acropolis above the modern center.
- Where is Arpino?
- Arpino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio, at 450 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Arpino?
- Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 50m by car.
- Can you get to Arpino 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 Arpino?
- About 2 hours by car.
- When is the best time to visit Arpino?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Arpino?
- Yes. Il Gonfalone, Festa degli Gnocchi and Sagra delle Fettuccine con Funghi Porcini e Tartufo. July is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Arpino?
- Castro dei Volsci, Capranica and Castelnuovo di Porto.
- How many people live in Arpino?
- 6,684 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 450 m
- Population: 6,684
- Surface area: 56.24 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.
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