Puglia · Bari
Casamassima
The blue town of the Murge, twenty kilometers south of Bari, its centro storico painted with copper-blue lime after the 1658 plague spared its residents.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Casamassima is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 22 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 19,213
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A19°
- M24°
- J29°
- J33°
- A32°
- S28°
- O23°
- N18°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Casamassima sits on the lower Murge slopes, twenty kilometers south of Bari. The village is known nationally as the Paese Azzurro, the blue town: the houses, palazzi and churches of the centro storico are coated in successive layers of blue-tinted quicklime, probably copper sulphate, in a tradition the locals trace to Duke Odoardo Vaaz. In 1658 a plague carried by a ship into the port of Bari killed over twenty thousand residents of the capital.
Vaaz, a feudal lord of Casamassima from a Sephardic Jewish family of Portuguese origin who had bought the fief in 1609 for 76,000 ducats, vowed to the Madonna of Constantinople that he would paint his town blue if the village was spared. It was. The small church of the Madonna di Costantinopoli still stands as the vow's fulfillment, and the blue lime has been retouched on the same buildings for nearly four centuries.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 34 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 3 h 27 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 22 min, Lecce 2 h or Salerno 3 h 17 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Bari Centrale? Casamassima is about 24 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico (Paese Azzurro)
The blue town, an entire medieval quarter coated in successive layers of copper-blue quicklime since the 1658 plague vow, unique in Puglia.
Palazzo Ducale Vaaz
Twelfth-century manor house turned ducal residence of the Sephardic Vaaz family from 1609, then of the D'Aponte family after the 1667 sale.
Chiesa di Maria SS di Costantinopoli
Small church built as the fulfillment of Duke Vaaz's plague vow, the historical anchor of the blue-painting tradition.
Chiesa Matrice
Mother church of the centro storico, the parish around which the medieval blue village organises its rites and patronal feast.
Porta Orologio
Medieval gate-tower with the civic clock, one of the access points into the walled blue centro storico, surviving from the fortified period.
Living here
Could you live here?
Casamassima meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 19,213 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Bari, a city of 315,831, 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.
- 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.
- Population 19,213, down 2.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Bari, 22 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Acquaviva delle Fonti, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,050 to €1,450 per m² to buy, €3.50 to €4.80 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 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 34 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Saturday
- Regional capital Bari, 22 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from China, Georgia and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 14 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France. There are 181 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 19% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Bari province ranks 67th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Acquaviva delle Fonti, 11 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Bari, 17 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Bari, 17 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 384 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 92 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 0.75% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €7,500. 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. In Bari, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.21, a meal in a pizzeria €11.13 and a man's haircut €14.53.
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. 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
PAESE AZZURRO
The blue town, every house and church coated in copper-blue quicklime since the 1658 plague vow, the only blue village in Puglia.
VAAZ
Sephardic Jewish family of Portuguese origin, feudal lords of Casamassima from 1609 to 1667, who ordered the blue lime after the Bari plague.
VIVIANI'S BLUE
The Milanese painter Vittorio Viviani came in the 1960s and built a body of work around the blue light, naming the village Il Paese Azzurro.
MOZZARELLA DI GIOIA DEL COLLE
The commune lies inside the Mozzarella di Gioia del Colle DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Casamassima known for?
- Casamassima is the blue town of the Murge, twenty kilometers south of Bari, its centro storico painted with copper-blue lime after the 1658 plague spared its residents.
- Where is Casamassima?
- Casamassima is a comune in the province of Bari, in Puglia, at 230 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Casamassima?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 34 min by car.
- Can you get to Casamassima without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bari to Casamassima?
- About 22 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Casamassima?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Casamassima?
- Castellana Grotte, Castellaneta and Acquaviva delle Fonti.
- How many people live in Casamassima?
- 19,213 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Casamassima a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Casamassima is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Bari, is 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Acquaviva delle Fonti, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 230 m
- Population: 19,213
- Surface area: 78.43 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 Casamassima appears in
- The best cheese towns within 45 minutes of BariNear Bariwithin 45 mincheese zone6 towns · smallest 5,908 residents · closest 22 min away
- The best cheese towns within two hours of LecceNear Leccewithin 2 hourscheese zone8 towns · smallest 10,102 residents · closest 80 min away
- The 9 best hill towns you can reach by train in the province of BariBari provincehill townby train9 towns · smallest 5,908 residents
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of BariNear Barihill townby trainwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 5,908 residents · closest 22 min away
- The best olive oil towns in the province of BariBari provinceolive oil10 towns · smallest 5,908 residents
Similar
Towns like Casamassima
What all six share with Casamassima: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
Castellana Grotte
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Castellaneta
Province: Taranto
both have a railway station in the comune
Acquaviva delle Fonti
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Conversano
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Pisticci
Province: Matera
both have a railway station in the comune
Bertinoro
Province: Forlì-Cesena
The letter
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