Lazio · Viterbo
Bassano in Teverina
A tufa-spur borgo of 1,273 above the Tiber valley between Lazio and Umbria, with a clock tower that hides an eleventh-century animated bell tower.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bassano in Teverina is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città della Nocciola.
The nearest town with a letter is Amelia, No. 75, 13 km away.
Subscribe and you get Bassano in Teverina's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 11 min from Rome
- Population
- 1,273
- J11°
- F14°
- M15°
- A19°
- M24°
- J29°
- J34°
- A33°
- S27°
- O22°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bassano in Teverina sits on a tufa spur on the eastern offshoots of the Cimini hills, where Lazio meets Umbria above the Tiber valley. It is one of the smaller communes in the Tuscia Viterbese: 1,273 residents on a hill above the river. The town is built around the Torre dell'Orologio, a twenty-five-meter peperino tower with a hand-painted majolica clock from around 1700 on its face.
Inside it, walled into the structure, stands the Romanesque bell tower of the older church of the Madonna dei Lumi, built around 1100 and embedded within the new tower between 1559 and 1571 by the Madruzzo family. The inner bell tower is one of the rare Italian campanili animati, with anthropomorphic figures carved into its peperino columns. The Madonna della Quercia chapel, built 1674-1678, stands around the oak where a tile of the Madonna and Child was found. Bassano is a Borgo più Bello and a Città della Nocciola of the Tonda Gentile Romana DOP.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 22 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 54 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 28 min or Siena 2 h 2 min.
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Bassano in Teverina is about 1 h 13 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Torre dell'Orologio
Twenty-five-meter peperino tower of around 1500 with majolica clock face from 1700, built around an older Romanesque bell tower by the Madruzzo family.
Campanile Animato (Madonna dei Lumi)
Eleventh-century Romanesque bell tower walled inside the Torre dell'Orologio, with anthropomorphic figures carved into its peperino columns.
Santuario della Madonna della Quercia
Built 1674-1678 around the oak where a tile of the Madonna and Child was found, on the road below the centro storico.
Centro storico
Medieval ridge town on a tufa spur, one of the smallest in the Tuscia Viterbese, inscribed in I Borghi più Belli d'Italia.
From the guides
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.
Olivo Ristorante dell'Olivo Country ClubRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (79/100), at Olivo Ristorante dell'Olivo Country Club.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bassano in Teverina is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 1,273, with Soriano nel Cimino (7,853 people) 13 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Viterbo, a city of 66,393, is 29 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 1,273, down 5.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Viterbo, 29 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Amelia, 13 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €550 to €850 per m² to buy, €2.60 to €3.60 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 85% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 12 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 11 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Albania, against 9% across Italy. There are 330 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 38% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Viterbo province ranks 71st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Amelia, 13 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 31 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 18 km as the crow flies.
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 0.7% 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. 2% 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
CAMPANILE ANIMATO
A rare animated bell tower, eleventh-century Romanesque, walled inside the sixteenth-century Torre dell'Orologio, with figures carved into its peperino.
HAZELNUTS
Città della Nocciola of the Cimini hills, growing region of the Tonda Gentile Romana DOP between Viterbo and the Tiber.
TIBER VALLEY
Last spur of the Cimini hills overlooking the Tiber, on the historic Via Amerina between Lazio and Umbria.
TUSCIA
The commune also lies inside the Tuscia DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Bassano in Teverina known for?
- Bassano in Teverina is a tufa-spur borgo of 1,273 above the Tiber valley between Lazio and Umbria, with a clock tower that hides an eleventh-century animated bell tower.
- Where is Bassano in Teverina?
- Bassano in Teverina is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, at 304 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Bassano in Teverina?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 12 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Bassano in Teverina?
- About 1 h 28 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bassano in Teverina?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bassano in Teverina?
- Bomarzo, Allerona and Arrone.
- How many people live in Bassano in Teverina?
- 1,273 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bassano in Teverina a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bassano in Teverina is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Soriano nel Cimino, 13 min). The nearest city, Viterbo, is 29 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Amelia, 13 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 85% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 304 m
- Population: 1,273
- Surface area: 12.17 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 Bassano in Teverina appears in
- The best hidden hill towns that eat well in the province of ViterboViterbo provincehill towneats wellhidden6 towns · smallest 902 residents
- The prettiest villages that eat well within 90 minutes of TerniNear Terniwithin 90 mineats wellprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 686 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns known for what they grow within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 90 minproduce zone8 towns · smallest 334 residents · closest 40 min away
- The 9 best hidden hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of TerniNear Ternihill townwithin 90 mineats wellhidden9 towns · smallest 902 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns that eat well in the province of ViterboViterbo provinceeats well9 towns · smallest 902 residents
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of RomeNear Romewithin 75 minproduce zone10 towns · smallest 902 residents · closest 31 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 75.
Amelia
Province: Terni
A pre-Roman hilltown ringed by polygonal walls, with ten barrel-vaulted Roman cisterns beneath its main square.
13 km away
- Written about. No. 65.
Bomarzo
Province: Viterbo
The Tuscia village below a garden built by a condottiero and later dedicated to his dead wife, all stone monsters and no apology for it.
21 min by car
- Written about. No. 82.
Narni
Province: Terni
Narni is a hilltop town on a travertine outcrop above the Nera valley whose Latin name, Narnia, gave C.S. Lewis a word for a fictional kingdom he never set foot in.
24 min by car
Our guide
Bassano in Teverina is in our Tuscia guide
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscia guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.