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00 Bagnoregio
Stemma di Bagnoregio

Lazio · Viterbo

Bagnoregio

The Etruscan-founded hill town in Tuscia whose frazione Civita di Bagnoregio sits on an eroding tuff plateau, reachable only by footbridge.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 25 min from Perugia
Population
3,364

Known for

  • CIVITA

    Eroding tuff-plateau frazione one kilometer east, sixteen residents, accessible only by a footbridge built in 1965.

  • LA CITTÀ CHE MUORE

    The dying town. The plateau loses centimeters of edge each year to landslides; the 1695 earthquake started the modern collapse.

  • SAN BONAVENTURA

    Franciscan theologian and biographer of Saint Francis, born Giovanni di Fidanza in Bagnoregio in 1221, named Doctor of the Church.

  • TUSCIA

    The commune lies inside the Tuscia DOP production zone.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J9°
  • F12°
  • M13°
  • A16°
  • M21°
  • J27°
  • J31°
  • A31°
  • S25°
  • O20°
  • N14°
  • D10°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, 15 July

Why come

Bagnoregio sits on a tuff ridge in northern Lazio, sixty kilometers from Perugia and a hundred north of Rome. The town itself is small and quiet, but it is famous for what comes next to it: Civita di Bagnoregio, the frazione one kilometer east, a separate Etruscan-founded village stranded on a tuff plateau that erodes a few centimeters every year. After the 1695 earthquake split Civita from the rest of the commune, the population emptied; today sixteen people live there year-round.

A reinforced pedestrian bridge built in 1965 is the only access. Civita is on the Borghi più belli d'Italia list and on most northern Lazio itineraries, and Bagnoregio, the larger and older town it grew out of, is where the bridge starts. Saint Bonaventure, the medieval Franciscan theologian and biographer of Saint Francis, was born here in 1221.

The Sunday letter

Bagnoregio 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 Bagnoregio comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

How to get there

From Rome (FCO), about 2h 17m by car.

Ancona / Pescara (AOI) is about 2h 51m away.

By car from the centre of Perugia 1h 25m or Siena 1h 51m.

Coming by train into Perugia? Bagnoregio is about 1h 25m away by road.

Bagnoregio, photo 1
Bagnoregio, photo 2

What to see

  • Ponte pedonale di Civita

    Reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge built in 1965, replacing the donkey path that connected Civita to Bagnoregio after the 1695 earthquake.

  • Civita di Bagnoregio

    Etruscan-founded frazione on an eroding tuff plateau, sixteen permanent residents, accessible only by the 1965 footbridge.

  • Cattedrale di San Donato (Bagnoregio)

    Episcopal cathedral in the larger town, with works tied to the cult of Saint Bonaventure, born in Bagnoregio in 1221.

  • Valle dei Calanchi

    Badland valley of eroded clay and tuff that surrounds Civita, the geological process that has been carving the plateau for two millennia.

  • Chiesa di San Donato (Civita)

    Romanesque-Renaissance church on the small piazza of Civita, holding a fifteenth-century wooden crucifix attributed to the school of Donatello.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Bagnoregio 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.

Plan your trip

Living here

  • Population 3,364
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Rome, 2 h 17 min drive
  • Regional capital Roma, 1 h 42 min drive

Common questions

What is Bagnoregio known for?
Bagnoregio is the Etruscan-founded hill town in Tuscia whose frazione Civita di Bagnoregio sits on an eroding tuff plateau, reachable only by footbridge.
Where is Bagnoregio?
Bagnoregio is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, at 484 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Bagnoregio?
Rome (FCO), about 2h 17m by car.
How long is the drive from Perugia to Bagnoregio?
About 1h 25m by car.
When is the best time to visit Bagnoregio?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Bagnoregio?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, 15 July.
Which other towns are like Bagnoregio?
Caprarola, Vitorchiano and Ronciglione.
How many people live in Bagnoregio?
3,364 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 484 m
  • Population: 3,364
  • Surface area: 72.81 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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