Puglia · Foggia
Biccari
A Subappennino Dauno borgo under Monte Cornacchia, the highest peak in Puglia, with a Byzantine tower at its core.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Biccari is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione, Borghi Autentici and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 2 h 7 min from Bari
- Population
- 2,594
- J9°
- F12°
- M12°
- A15°
- M21°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Biccari sits on the eastern slope of the Subappennino Dauno, with Monte Cornacchia rising behind it, the highest point in Puglia. The municipal territory runs from the peak down to the Tavoliere plain, an unusual vertical range for a Puglian commune. The village was founded by Byzantine catepan Basilio Boioannes around 1024, then taken in the 1050s by a Norman called Pagano who fortified the original tower into a small castrum.
The Torre Bizantina still stands at the center of the village, a round stone tower that names everything around it. The town holds four designations at once (Bandiera Arancione, Borghi Autentici, Città dell'Olio and Comuni Virtuosi) and runs an active second-home repopulation scheme. A Neolithic site at Boschetto, 700 meters up the Organo torrent, is one of the highest of its age in Puglia, evidence of seasonal habitation four thousand years before Christ.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 2 h 3 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 36 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 2 h 7 min, Pescara 2 h 28 min or Salerno 2 h 29 min.
Coming by train into Foggia? Biccari is about 41 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Torre Bizantina
Cylindrical stone watchtower built by the Byzantine catepan between 1024 and 1054, the structure the Norman fortifications grew around, still the highest point in the village.
Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria Assunta
Mother church in the centro storico, rebuilt over the centuries on Byzantine and Norman foundations, anchoring the upper village.
Lago Pescara
Small upland lake in the Cornacchia foothills, used for fishing and a summer walking circuit, at the edge of the beech and oak woodland.
Monte Cornacchia
At 1,151 meters the highest peak in Puglia, on the boundary of the commune, with trails up from Biccari through beech forest.
Sito Neolitico di Boschetto
Neolithic settlement at 700 meters on the Organo torrent, one of the highest sites of its age in Puglia, evidence of seasonal use 4,000 years BC.
Living here
Could you live here?
Biccari is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,594. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Lucera, is 22 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Foggia, a city of 145,198, is 45 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 2,594, down 7.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Foggia, 45 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Ariano Irpino, 26 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €400 to €600 per m² to buy, €1.40 to €2.00 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 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 2 h 3 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bari, 2 h 7 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Argentina and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 278 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 47% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Foggia province ranks 98th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Ariano Irpino, 26 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Foggia, 33 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Benevento, 44 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 231 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 102 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.02% 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. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Puglia spends about €1,500 a month, €440 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €545 a year for water, on the Puglia 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. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 3% in a high or medium one. 8% 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
MONTE CORNACCHIA
At 1,151 meters the highest peak in Puglia, on the commune boundary, beech and oak forest above the Tavoliere haze.
BYZANTINE TOWER
Cylindrical watchtower built between 1024 and 1054 under Basilio Boioannes, the structure the village grew around and the still-standing core of the centro storico.
REPOPULATION
Active Comuni Virtuosi scheme to bring residents back to the centro storico, including subsidised second homes and shared-services projects.
Common questions
- What is Biccari known for?
- Biccari is a Subappennino Dauno borgo at 450 meters under Monte Cornacchia, the highest peak in Puglia at 1,151 meters, with a Byzantine tower at its core.
- Where is Biccari?
- Biccari is a comune in the province of Foggia, in Puglia.
- What is the nearest airport to Biccari?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 2 h 3 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bari to Biccari?
- About 2 h 7 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Biccari?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Biccari?
- Pietramontecorvino, Taverna and Montefiore Conca.
- How many people live in Biccari?
- 2,594 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Biccari a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Biccari is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Lucera, is 22 min away. The nearest city, Foggia, is 45 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Ariano Irpino, 26 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 450 m
- Population: 2,594
- Surface area: 106.65 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 Biccari appears in
- The best small hill towns in PugliaPugliahill townsmall6 towns · smallest 1,275 residents
- The best hidden olive oil towns within 90 minutes of FoggiaNear Foggiaolive oilwithin 90 minhidden7 towns · smallest 904 residents · closest 40 min away
- The best hidden hill towns within 90 minutes of FoggiaNear Foggiahill townwithin 90 minhidden8 towns · smallest 904 residents · closest 39 min away
- The best hidden olive oil towns in PugliaPugliaolive oilhidden9 towns · smallest 2,594 residents
Similar
Towns like Biccari
What all six share with Biccari: inland, away from the coast · under 3,000 people
The letter
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