Lazio · Frosinone
Boville Ernica
A Ciociaria hilltop town with eighteen intact medieval towers, ringed by a walled circuit that has stood since the tenth century.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Boville Ernica is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 26 min from Rome
- Population
- 8,266
- 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
Boville Ernica sits above the Sacco and Liri valleys in Ciociaria, in the province of Frosinone. The Ernici, an Italic tribe contemporary with the Volsci, gave the place its second name, added in 1907 to distinguish it from another Bauco. That name links the town's two layers: the polygonal walls at Monte Fico above the centro storico, built by the Ernici to defend a hill village and its place of worship, and the medieval circuit below, raised centuries later over the same defensive instinct after the Saracen and Hungarian raids.
The borgo itself grew around that walled core. Cardinal Ennio Filonardi, a sixteenth-century papal nuncio born in Boville, built his palace over the medieval castle and reorganized the urban plan around it, so the renaissance layer sits inside the medieval one rather than beside it. The abbey holding the Angelo del Navicella occupies the same historical register, a twelfth-century structure raised over a saint's cave, carrying inside it a mosaic fragment centuries older than the building itself.
The hills above town, signed Città dell'Olio, are the one part of the landscape still doing what it has always done. Put together, the town reads as a single hill continuously fortified and rebuilt, each century adding a layer without erasing the one beneath it.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 32 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 1 h 38 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 1 h 42 min or Salerno 2 h 7 min.
Coming by train into Latina? Boville Ernica is about 1 h 8 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Abbazia di San Pietro Ispano
Twelfth-century abbey built over a grotto associated with the saint. The Angelo del Navicella is kept inside, a small mosaic fragment set against the scale of the building raised to house it.
Mura medievali
The circuit is walkable and complete, tower after tower in the round-then-square rhythm, a rebuilding that answered the Saracen and Hungarian raids of the tenth century.
Palazzo Filonardi
Sixteenth-century palace built by Cardinal Ennio Filonardi over the medieval castle, anchor of the renaissance reorganization of the centro storico.
Mura poligonali (Monte Fico)
Pre-Roman megalithic walls on Monte Fico above town, built by the Ernici to defend a hill village with a place of worship.
Oliveti
Hills above the centro storico signed Città dell'Olio, growing the local Itrana and Frantoio cultivars of the Frosinone basin.
Living here
Could you live here?
Boville Ernica meets our one rule for a small town.
- 8,266 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Frosinone, a city of 43,015, is 22 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 8,266, down 6.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Frosinone, 22 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Frosinone, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €520 to €730 per m² to buy, €1.90 to €2.70 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 84% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 15 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 26 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 207 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 13% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Frosinone province ranks 85th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Frosinone, 11 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 53 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 86 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 66 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, 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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 4% 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
GIOTTO'S ANGEL
A fragment from Giotto's mosaic at old St. Peter's, held at the abbey of San Pietro Ispano; the only surviving Giotto mosaic anywhere.
EIGHTEEN TOWERS
Intact medieval walls with eighteen turrets alternating round and square in plan, raised over earlier Ernician walls after the tenth-century raids.
CIOCIARIA OLIVE
Città dell'Olio, hill groves of Itrana and Frantoio in the Sacco-Liri basin, harvested late October through December.
Common questions
- What is Boville Ernica known for?
- Boville Ernica is a Ciociaria hilltop town with eighteen intact medieval towers, ringed by a walled circuit that has stood since the tenth century.
- Where is Boville Ernica?
- Boville Ernica is a comune in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio, at 450 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Boville Ernica?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 15 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Boville Ernica?
- About 1 h 42 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Boville Ernica?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Boville Ernica?
- Atina, Ronciglione and Caprarola.
- How many people live in Boville Ernica?
- 8,266 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Boville Ernica a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Boville Ernica is a small town that meets our one rule. The nearest city, Frosinone, is 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Frosinone, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 84% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 450 m
- Population: 8,266
- Surface area: 28.19 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 Boville Ernica appears in
- The 6 best hill towns within 90 minutes of LatinaNear Latinahill townwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 1,423 residents · closest 23 min away
- The best hill towns in the province of FrosinoneFrosinone provincehill town7 towns · smallest 2,588 residents
- The best olive oil towns in LazioLazioolive oil8 towns · smallest 1,197 residents
Featured on
Boville Ernica appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Boville Ernica
What all six share with Boville Ernica: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Atina
Province: Frosinone
48 min apart by road
- Written about. No. 58.
Ronciglione
Province: Viterbo
2 h 7 min apart by road
- Written about. No. 63.
Caprarola
Province: Viterbo
2 h 13 min apart by road
Vitorchiano
Province: Viterbo
2 h 13 min apart by road
- Written about. No. 90.
Trevi
Province: Perugia
2 h 55 min apart by road
- Written about. No. 31.
Castelnuovo Berardenga
Province: Siena
The letter
Boville Ernica 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 Boville Ernica comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 120 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.