Lazio · Viterbo
Bolsena
A medieval town on the eastern shore of Europe's largest volcanic lake, where a Bohemian priest reported a Eucharistic miracle in 1263.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bolsena is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Infioritalia.
The nearest town with a letter is Allerona, No. 74, 19 km away.
Subscribe and you get Bolsena's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 35 min from Perugia
- Population
- 3,690
- J10°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bolsena stands on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe at 114 square kilometers. The site sits on the old Etruscan town of Volsinii, razed by the Romans in 265 BC; the survivors were resettled here as Volsinii Novi. In 1263 a Bohemian priest, doubting the doctrine of transubstantiation, was celebrating mass in the church when the host bled onto the corporal.
The cloth was carried to Urbino, then to Orvieto, and Pope Urban IV extended the feast of Corpus Domini to the universal Church the following year. The Basilica di Santa Cristina, where the miracle is said to have occurred, holds the original altar stone and an early Christian catacomb. The Rocca Monaldeschi della Cervara, a fourteenth-century fortress of the Orvietan family, dominates the upper town and houses the Museo Territoriale del Lago di Bolsena. On Corpus Domini the streets fill with floral mosaics for the Infioritalia network.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 1 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 3 h 1 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 35 min or Siena 1 h 58 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Basilica di Santa Cristina
Eleventh-century basilica with the altar stone of the 1263 Eucharistic miracle and an early Christian catacomb beneath the apse.
Rocca Monaldeschi della Cervara
Fourteenth-century fortress of the Orvietan Monaldeschi, dominating the upper town and housing the Museo Territoriale.
Lago di Bolsena
Largest volcanic lake in Europe at 114 square kilometers, with two small islands and a continuous swimming and fishing tradition.
Volsinii archaeological site
Remains of the Roman Volsinii Novi north of the town, including walls, baths and an amphitheater on the lake terrace.
Infiorata di Corpus Domini
Floral mosaics laid along the streets between San Francesco and Santa Cristina, part of the national Infioritalia network.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bolsena is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,690. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Montefiascone, is 24 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Viterbo, a city of 66,393, is 48 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 3,690, down 9.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Viterbo, 48 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Acquapendente, 15 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €880 to €1,300 per m² to buy, €4.50 to €5.40 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 12% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 34 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 52 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Germany and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 87 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There are 422 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 43% 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 Acquapendente, 15 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 56 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 27 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 0.6% 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. 4% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 14% 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
MIRACLE OF 1263
Eucharistic miracle in the Basilica di Santa Cristina that prompted Pope Urban IV to extend the feast of Corpus Domini to the whole Church.
LARGEST VOLCANIC LAKE
Lake Bolsena, 114 square kilometers, the largest volcanic lake in Europe, formed by the collapse of the Vulsini caldera.
VOLSINII NOVI
Roman town founded after the destruction of the Etruscan Volsinii in 265 BC, with surviving walls, baths and amphitheater.
PROTECTED PRODUCTS
The commune lies inside the Pecorino Toscano DOP, Tuscia DOP and Patata dell'Alto Viterbese IGP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Bolsena known for?
- Bolsena is a medieval town at 350 meters on the eastern shore of Europe's largest volcanic lake, where a Bohemian priest reported a Eucharistic miracle in 1263.
- Where is Bolsena?
- Bolsena is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio.
- What is the nearest airport to Bolsena?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 34 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Bolsena?
- About 1 h 35 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bolsena?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bolsena?
- Castel Gandolfo, Bellano and Passignano sul Trasimeno.
- How many people live in Bolsena?
- 3,690 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bolsena a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bolsena is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Montefiascone, is 24 min away. The nearest city, Viterbo, is 48 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Acquapendente, 15 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 12% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 350 m
- Population: 3,690
- Surface area: 63.57 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 Bolsena appears in
- The best towns on a walking route in the province of ViterboViterbo provinceon a walking route6 towns · smallest 3,690 residents
- The 7 best lake towns in LazioLaziolake7 towns · smallest 1,650 residents
- The best cheese towns within two hours of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 2 hourscheese zone9 towns · smallest 539 residents · closest 81 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 74.
Allerona
Province: Terni
A stone borgo at 472 meters between the Paglia valley and the Valdichiana, an Orvieto outpost whose Monaldeschi castle fell to Charles V.
19 km away
- Written about. No. 83.
Orvieto
Province: Terni
Etruscan Velzna on a 325-meter tufa butte, later a medieval refuge of popes.
34 min by car
- Written about. No. 80.
Montecchio
Province: Terni
A small hill commune at 377 meters above the Tiber, sitting on top of one of Umbria's largest Etruscan-tied necropolises.
26 km away
Our guide
Bolsena 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.