Abruzzo · L'Aquila
Cappadocia
A 576-resident Marsican borgo at 1,102m in Abruzzo's western mountains, where the river Liri rises, with a name many mistake for the wrong country.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Cappadocia is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici and Città delle Grotte.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 20 min from Rome
- Population
- 576
- J6°
- F9°
- M9°
- A12°
- M17°
- J22°
- J27°
- A26°
- S20°
- O16°
- N11°
- D7°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The village sits in a karst-limestone valley in western Abruzzo, at 1,102m in the Marsican mountains. The river Liri rises in the commune's mountains, beside the site of the old Benedictine convent of San Tommaso.
The borgo itself is small: a settlement of stone houses around a 12th-century parish church with later restorations, partial medieval walls still standing, holding a Borgo Autentico designation for the kind of community life and continuity that mark is meant to recognize. To the east the Marsica plain opens toward Avezzano. To the south, the regional park gives the village its hiking access, with the standard half-day summit reached directly from the settlement.
The name is a separate thread from the geography, tied instead to a tradition that Byzantine refugees fleeing the Arab conquests in the 7th-8th centuries AD carried the word from the Anatolian region of the same name when they settled here, a purely toponymic link with no rock-cut landscape or hot-air balloons attached to it.
Depopulation here has been steep and steady: 1,800 residents in 1951, 576 today, a pattern common to Marsican mountain villages generally.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 36 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 20 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 1 h 37 min or Naples 2 h 24 min.
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Cappadocia is about 1 h 20 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Sorgenti del Liri
The springs of the Liri, one of Abruzzo's main rivers, in the mountains of the commune, near the site of the Benedictine convent of San Tommaso.
Centro storico + Chiesa di San Biagio
Quietly handsome medieval mountain settlement at 1,102m. Stone houses, the 12th-century Chiesa di San Biagio with later restorations, partial medieval walls.
Monti Simbruini + Monte Calvo
Monte Calvo, at 1,500m, is the standard half-day summit from the village, reached directly from the settlement into the regional park's trail network.
Byzantine refugee toponym
The link to the original Anatolian region is purely a matter of the name traveling with the refugees who settled here. No hot-air balloons, no rock-cut landscape: just the word itself, carried over centuries.
Marsican mountain kitchen
Pasta alla mugnaia (hand-rolled durum strings), arrosticini (castrato lamb skewers), pecorino di Capracotta, Cesanese del Piglio red.
Living here
Could you live here?
Cappadocia is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 576, with Tagliacozzo (6,416 people) 14 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Tivoli, a city of 55,115, is 1 h 3 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 576, up 6.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Tivoli, 1 h 3 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Avezzano, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €500 to €750 per m² to buy, €1.30 to €1.90 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 100% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 19 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 56 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 517 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 90% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. L'Aquila province ranks 69th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Avezzano, 14 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 69 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in L'Aquila, 45 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 67 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Little Genius International, 55 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.1% 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 0.5% to your income tax. 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 Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 9% 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
SOURCE OF THE LIRI
The river Liri, which runs on through Lazio to the sea at Minturno, rises in the commune's mountains.
BORGO AUTENTICO
Italian small-village quality mark for community life and authenticity in the Marsican mountains at 1,102m.
BYZANTINE NAME ORIGIN
Tradition: 7th-8th c AD Byzantine refugees from Anatolian Cappadocia brought the name when fleeing the Arab conquests.
MONTI SIMBRUINI GATEWAY
Immediate access to the Monti Simbruini Regional Park, Monte Calvo, the central Apennine trail network, Marsica plain views.
Common questions
- What is Cappadocia known for?
- Cappadocia is a 576-resident Marsican borgo at 1,102m in Abruzzo's western mountains, where the river Liri rises, with a name many mistake for the wrong country.
- Where is Cappadocia?
- Cappadocia is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, at 1102 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Cappadocia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 19 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Cappadocia?
- About 1 h 37 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cappadocia?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Cappadocia?
- Castelvecchio Calvisio, Santo Stefano di Sessanio and Pietracamela.
- How many people live in Cappadocia?
- 576 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Cappadocia a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Cappadocia is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Tagliacozzo, 14 min). The nearest city, Tivoli, is 1 h 3 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Avezzano, 14 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 100% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1102 m
- Population: 576
- Surface area: 68.58 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 Cappadocia appears in
Similar
Towns like Cappadocia
What all six share with Cappadocia: under 1,000 people · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
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