Puglia · Taranto
Castellaneta
A cliff-edge Murge town above the Gravina Grande canyon, birthplace of Rudolph Valentino in 1895, with a Bandiera Blu Ionian marina.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Castellaneta is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici, Bandiera Blu and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 5 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 15,927
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M24°
- J30°
- J34°
- A33°
- S28°
- O23°
- N17°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Castellaneta sits on the Murge plateau, on the southern rim of the Gravina Grande, a karst canyon 10 kilometers long and 145 meters deep that wraps the town in near-vertical limestone walls. The municipal territory runs from the gravina down to the Ionian coast at Castellaneta Marina, fifteen kilometers south, where the long sand beach has held Bandiera Blu for ten consecutive years. The cathedral was founded under the Normans in the eleventh century, rebuilt in Romanesque form in the fourteenth, and given its white limestone facade in 1771.
The town is best known abroad as the birthplace of Rodolfo Valentino, born here on 6 May 1895 and reborn in Hollywood as Rudolph Valentino. A blue ceramic statue of the actor by Luigi Gheno was unveiled in the centro storico in 1961, captured in the documentary Mondo Cane, and the Museo Rodolfo Valentino opened in the former Santa Chiara monastery in 2010.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 1 h 11 min by car.
Lamezia Terme (SUF) is about 3 h 40 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 1 h 5 min, Lecce 2 h 9 min or Salerno 3 h 20 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Taranto? Castellaneta is about 46 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Gravina Grande
Karst canyon ten kilometers long and 145 meters deep wrapping the town on three sides, part of the Terra delle Gravine regional park.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Norman cathedral of the eleventh century rebuilt as a Romanesque basilica in the fourteenth and refaced in white limestone in 1771.
Museo Rodolfo Valentino
Civic museum opened in 2010 in the former Santa Chiara monastery, with the ceramic statue by Luigi Gheno unveiled in 1961 standing nearby in the centro storico.
Castellaneta Marina
Coastal frazione fifteen kilometers south, long pine-backed sand beach holding Bandiera Blu, the municipal seaside.
Centro storico
Walled old town on the gravina edge, narrow stone lanes, the Valentino statue and the cathedral square at its center.
Living here
Could you live here?
Castellaneta meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 15,927 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Matera, a city of 59,628, is 51 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- 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 15,927, down 6.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Matera, 51 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €800 to €1,100 per m² to buy, €4.20 to €5.80 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
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 84% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 1 h 11 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bari, 1 h 5 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia, against 9% across Italy. 13 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 280 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 45% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Taranto province ranks 99th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Martina Franca, 32 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 397 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 83 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 0.8% 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 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.
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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 7% in a high or medium one. 3% 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
RUDOLPH VALENTINO
Born here 6 May 1895 as Rodolfo Guglielmi, died in New York 1926, the silent-era actor whose ceramic statue stands in the centro storico.
GRAVINA GRANDE
Karst canyon 145 meters deep wrapping the town, one of the largest of the Murge gravines and the heart of the Terra delle Gravine park.
MARINA BANDIERA BLU
Castellaneta Marina, fifteen kilometers south on the Ionian, pine-backed sand beach holding the Blue Flag for ten consecutive years.
PROTECTED PRODUCTS
The commune also lies inside the Mozzarella di Gioia del Colle DOP, Terre Tarentine DOP and Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Castellaneta known for?
- Castellaneta is a cliff-edge Murge town at 235 meters above the Gravina Grande canyon, birthplace of Rudolph Valentino in 1895, with a Bandiera Blu Ionian marina.
- Where is Castellaneta?
- Castellaneta is a comune in the province of Taranto, in Puglia.
- What is the nearest airport to Castellaneta?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 1 h 11 min by car.
- Can you get to Castellaneta 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 Castellaneta?
- About 1 h 5 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Castellaneta?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Castellaneta?
- Acquaviva delle Fonti, Casamassima and Castellana Grotte.
- How many people live in Castellaneta?
- 15,927 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Castellaneta a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Castellaneta is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Matera, is 51 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 84% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 235 m
- Population: 15,927
- Surface area: 242.32 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 Castellaneta appears in
- The best hill towns inside a nature park in PugliaPugliahill towninside a park6 towns · smallest 7,926 residents
- The 7 best beach towns inside a nature park in PugliaPugliaclean beachinside a park7 towns · smallest 11,891 residents
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of BariNear Bariwithin 75 minproduce zone7 towns · smallest 1,275 residents · closest 39 min away
- The best beach towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of TarantoNear Tarantoclean beachby trainwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 3,132 residents · closest 49 min away
Featured on
Castellaneta appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Castellaneta
What all six share with Castellaneta: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
Acquaviva delle Fonti
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Casamassima
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Castellana Grotte
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
Cassano delle Murge
Province: Bari
1 h 5 min apart by road
The letter
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