Lazio · Latina
Bassiano
One of the highest villages in the province of Latina, at 562 meters, birthplace of Aldo Manuzio, who shrank the book to pocket size.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bassiano is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 37 min from Rome
- Population
- 1,423
- J10°
- F12°
- M12°
- A15°
- M20°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S24°
- O19°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bassiano sits at 562 meters on a ridge of the Monti Lepini, one of the highest communes in the province of Latina. The medieval village is built in a spiral that climbs to the summit where the Caetani fortress once stood. Its walls, raised by the Caetani at the end of the thirteenth century, run with nine towers and three gates still intact.
Aldo Manuzio was born here between 1449 and 1452. He moved to Venice, founded the Aldine Press, gave the world italic type and the enchiridia, the small portable book in octavo, predecessor of the modern paperback. The Palazzo Caetani in the centro storico now houses the Museo delle Scritture Aldo Manuzio, opened in 2009 with La Sapienza University, dedicated to the history of the written word.
The Chiesa di Sant'Erasmo holds a Romanesque baptismal font and fourteenth-century frescoes. From the belvedere at the top of the spiral, the Pontine plain opens out toward the Tyrrhenian, and on a clear morning the Circeo promontory closes the horizon.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 36 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 16 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 2 h 20 min or Salerno 2 h 44 min.
Coming by train into Latina? Bassiano is about 17 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Mura e torri dei Caetani
Late thirteenth-century walls with nine towers and three gates, raised by the Caetani family around the spiral village.
Museo delle Scritture Aldo Manuzio
Inside the sixteenth-century Palazzo Caetani, opened 2009 with La Sapienza University, dedicated to the printer-humanist born here around 1450.
Chiesa di Sant'Erasmo
Fourteenth-century parish church with Romanesque baptismal font, marble tabernacle, and a cycle of frescoes from the late Middle Ages.
Centro storico a spirale
Spiral medieval town climbing to the summit, narrow alleys and case-torri, the highest centro storico in the province of Latina.
Monti Lepini
Limestone range rising 1,500 meters above the Pontine plain, trekking country between Bassiano, Sermoneta and Norma.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bassiano is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,423. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sezze, is 20 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Latina, a city of 127,796, is 32 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 1,423, down 10.7% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Latina, 32 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Latina, 16 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €580 to €870 per m² to buy, €3.30 to €4.60 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 77% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 18 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 37 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania and Peru, against 9% across Italy. There are 279 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 49% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Latina province ranks 83rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Latina, 16 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 16 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 58 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 36 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 at the 2025 rate, 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 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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 3% 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
ALDO MANUZIO
Aldine Press founder, born here between 1449 and 1452; invented italic type and the pocket-size octavo book.
CAETANI WALLS
Late thirteenth-century fortification with nine intact towers and three gates, raised around the spiral village by the Caetani family.
MONTI LEPINI
One of the highest villages in the province of Latina, at 562 meters, on the limestone ridge above the Pontine plain.
OLIVA DI GAETA
The commune also lies inside the Oliva di Gaeta DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Bassiano known for?
- One of the highest villages in the province of Latina, at 562 meters, birthplace of Aldo Manuzio, who shrank the book to pocket size.
- Where is Bassiano?
- Bassiano is a comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio.
- What is the nearest airport to Bassiano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 18 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Bassiano?
- About 2 h 20 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bassiano?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bassiano?
- Lugnano in Teverina, Montecchio and Cocconato.
- How many people live in Bassiano?
- 1,423 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bassiano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bassiano is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sezze, is 20 min away. The nearest city, Latina, is 32 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Latina, 16 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 77% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 562 m
- Population: 1,423
- Surface area: 32.4 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 Bassiano appears in
Similar
Towns like Bassiano
What all six share with Bassiano: inland, away from the coast · under 3,000 people · hill towns
Lugnano in Teverina
Province: Terni
2 h 14 min apart by road
- Written about. No. 80.
Montecchio
Province: Terni
2 h 36 min apart by road
Cocconato
Province: Asti
Montone
Province: Perugia
3 h 42 min apart by road
Monte Grimano Terme
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
Monte Castello di Vibio
Province: Perugia
2 h 54 min apart by road
The letter
Bassiano 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 Bassiano comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 92 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.