Piemonte · Biella
Candelo
A Biellese commune whose Ricetto, a 13th-century fortified shelter of two hundred stone cellule, is the best-preserved in Piedmont.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Candelo is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
Subscribe and you get Candelo's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 11 min from Turin
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 7,218
- J8°
- F11°
- M12°
- A16°
- M20°
- J25°
- J27°
- A27°
- S22°
- O17°
- N11°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Candelo sits on the right bank of the Cervo torrent, ten kilometers from Biella, with a third of its territory on the Baraggione plateau, a wild grassland of about 5,000 hectares now protected as the Riserva Naturale delle Baragge. The Ricetto is what people come for. It is a late-medieval fortified shelter built by the local farming community in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: roughly two hundred stone cellule arranged on a pentagonal plan of 13,000 square meters, crossed by five east-west rue and two transverse, the perimeter walls running 470 meters.
Goods, grain, wine and forage were stored here under the protection of the local lord. Only in extreme attack did the population itself withdraw inside. It is the best-preserved structure of its kind in Piedmont. Candelo joined the Borghi più belli d'Italia in 2002 and has held the Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club Italiano since 2007.
How to get there
From Turin (TRN), about 1 h 11 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 1 h 51 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 13 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Turin, Milan or Genoa?
Coming by train into Torino Porta Susa? Candelo is about 1 h 8 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Turin airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Ricetto di Candelo
Thirteenth- to fourteenth-century fortified shelter on a pentagonal plan, with about two hundred stone cellule and 470 meters of walls.
Rue del Ricetto
Five east-west streets and two transverse, paved in river stone, the cellule grouped along them for storing grain and wine.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore
Parish church of Candelo next to the Ricetto, on the centro storico side of the town.
Riserva Naturale delle Baragge
Protected lowland savanna of about 5,000 hectares, the Baraggione, on the plateau west of town.
Torrente Cervo
65-kilometer torrent from the Biellese Alps that runs below the Ricetto on the east side of the commune.
Living here
Could you live here?
Candelo meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 7,218 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Biella, a city of 43,181, is 21 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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.
We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.
- Population 7,218, down 6.4% since 2015
- Nearest city Biella, 21 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Ponderano, 5 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €440 to €630 per m² to buy, €2.80 to €3.90 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
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 35% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Turin airport (TRN), 1 h 11 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 11 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Morocco, Romania and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 10 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 321 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 18% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Biella province ranks 55th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Ponderano, 5 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Novara, 41 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ivrea, 20 km away. The nearest IB school is World International School of Torino, 61 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Lycée Français International Jean Giono Turin, 60 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. 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 Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average. In Biella, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20, a meal in a pizzeria €12.81 and a man's haircut €15.83.
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. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
RICETTO
Best-preserved medieval fortified shelter in Piedmont, two hundred cellule on a pentagonal plan of 13,000 square meters.
BARAGGIA
5,000-hectare lowland savanna on the plateau west of town, protected as the Riserva Naturale delle Baragge.
ENOTECA REGIONALE
Regional wine showcase inside the Ricetto, focused on the wines of the Biellese, Coste della Sesia and northern Piemonte.
Common questions
- What is Candelo known for?
- Candelo is a Biellese commune at 350 meters whose Ricetto, a 13th-century fortified shelter of two hundred stone cellule, is the best-preserved in Piedmont.
- Where is Candelo?
- Candelo is a comune in the province of Biella, in Piemonte.
- What is the nearest airport to Candelo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Turin (TRN), about 1 h 11 min by car.
- Can you get to Candelo without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Candelo?
- About 2 h 13 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Candelo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Candelo?
- Castagnole delle Lanze, Neive and Ornavasso.
- How many people live in Candelo?
- 7,218 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Candelo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Candelo is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Biella, is 21 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Ponderano, 5 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 35% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 350 m
- Population: 7,218
- Surface area: 15.12 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 Candelo appears in
- The prettiest villages within 90 minutes of NovaraNear Novarawithin 90 minprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 454 residents · closest 37 min away
- The best towns known for their meat within two hours of TurinNear Turinwithin 2 hoursmeat zone7 towns · smallest 126 residents · closest 71 min away
- The prettiest villages you can reach by train in PiemontePiemonteby trainprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 192 residents
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of NovaraNear Novarahill townwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 454 residents · closest 45 min away
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of MilanNear Milanhill townwithin 90 min10 towns · smallest 244 residents · closest 51 min away
Similar
Towns like Candelo
What all six share with Candelo: between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
Castagnole delle Lanze
Province: Asti
both inland, away from the coast
Neive
Province: Cuneo
both inland, away from the coast
Ornavasso
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
both inland, away from the coast
Montecosaro
Province: Macerata
both inland, away from the coast
- Written about. No. 90.
Trevi
Province: Perugia
both inland, away from the coast
Racconigi
Province: Cuneo
1 h 53 min apart by road
The letter
Candelo 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 Candelo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 156 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.